Discontent among party leaders was evident at a recent awareness meeting organized by the Congress District Committee in Kothagudem town over the state government’s enumeration of castes. The meeting was attended by MLAs K. Kanakaiah (Yellandu), P. Venkateshwarlu (Pinapaka), Tellam Venkat Rao (Bhadrachalam) and T. Adinarayana (Aswaraopet), along with BC Commission members and District Congress President Podem Veeraiah.

Kothagudem: All is not well in the Kothagudem district Congress as the party leaders have openly expressed their dissent against the party leadership.

The displeasure of party leaders came to the fore at a recent awareness meeting organized by the Congress District Committee in Kothagudem town over the enumeration of castes taken up by the state government. The meeting was attended by MLAs K Kanakaiah from Yellandu, P Venkateshwarlu from Pinapaka, Tellam Venkat Rao from Bhadrachalam and T Adinarayana from Aswaraopet along with BC Commission members besides District Congress President Podem Veeraiah.

A senior party leader, Anthony Paul, complained that justice has not been meted out to a single party worker in the district, even after ten months have passed since the Congress came to power in the state. He said the MLAs ignored the senior cadres and leaders who worked hard for the party’s victory.

The MLAs failed to hold a meeting with the party workers even once to know about their needs. Those who recently joined the Congress from other parties were given priority while seniors were neglected, he noted.

Paul stated that every Congress worker in the district was angry with the party leadership. He asked the party leadership to respect seniority and give nominated posts only to senior leaders. Although the BC Commission has been formed, the responsibilities of its members have not been clarified, he noted.

On the other hand, there was a tussle between former Bhadrachalam MLA Veeraiah and current MLA Venkat Rao, who joined the Congress after being elected on the BRS ticket in the last Assembly elections.

Veeraiah’s followers accused Venkat Rao of prioritizing his followers while neglecting Veeraiah’s supporters. Both the leaders were at odds with Veeraiah allegedly trying to prevent Venkat Rao, a follower of minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, from joining the Congress.

Recently, a banner against the MLA came up at Dummugudam constituency headquarters, alleging that senior Congress leaders were ignored in setting up the Indiramma housing committees. Some leaders were said to have taken the issue to the leadership of the TPCC.