Congress Plagued By Differences Within Senior Leaders In Asifabad District

ADILABAD: Differences among senior Congress leaders in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district are undermining the ruling party in Telangana, yielding a political advantage to the opposition BRS.

Congress leaders have gone to the extent of making allegations against one another. Former DCC president Vishwa Prasad, ex-MLA Atram Sakku, assembly constituency in-charge Shyam Naik, and DCC president Atram Suguna are at loggerheads ever since the appointment of Suguna as the DCC president.

All these leaders have disagreements with one another. They form into two groups depending on the issue and the political benefit. They even change their stands based on their own political convenience.

Disagreements have multiplied after Congress lost the municipal chairman’s post as well as a considerable number of major gram panchayats to the BRS in Asifabad district. DCC president Suguna is being blamed for being a non-local in understanding the district’s dynamics. There is confusion among the Congress cadre and the second-rung leaders due to the constant bickering between the senior leaders.

The latest controversy is over the allegation that Atram Suguna, being the DCC president, is focusing only on the Asifabad assembly constituency, since she is aspiring for a party ticket from the Asifabad seat in the next assembly elections. At the same time, former MLA Atram Sakku and assembly constituency in-charge Shyam Naik are also aspirants from the same constituency, which is reserved for STs.

Differences within the Congress leaders reached the peak when a section of Congress leaders and cadre staged a protest in front of the Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad, demanding that the TPCC sack Suguna as DCC president. They accuse her of taking unilateral decisions. Her detractors say no mandal president post has been given to SCs, even though there are 10 mandals in the assembly constituency.

A senior Congress leader of Asifabad said it is unfortunate that some senior party leaders are indulging in character assassination of their opponents within the party. This only harms Congress party’s image overall, the senior leader pointed out.

The leader suggested that it would be good for all senior leaders to sit together and resolve their differences, instead of going to the media and making allegations against one another.