Hyderabad: The quarrel inside Telangana's ruling Congress has stopped staying inside individual constituencies. Disputes between ministers, between ministers and MPs, and between ministers and MLAs have travelled up to the state leadership and the AICC, just as the government enters its third year.
For three years, factionalism largely stayed local, fought over tickets and turf in single seats. What has changed is the cast of the fight. Senior members of the same Cabinet are now openly ranged against each other, and the state unit has found itself unable to referee.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president B Mahesh Kumar Goud and other senior leaders have made repeated attempts to patch things up. Those attempts have yielded little, sources said.
The latest flashpoint came in New Delhi, on the margins of a meeting held in connection with Rahul Gandhi's rally at Ramlila Maidan. Health Minister C Damodar Rajanarasimha and Jukkal MLA Laxmikant Rao are reported to have traded abuse. Goud convened a separate meeting to settle the complaints. Both leaders stayed away. He then decided to send his report to the AICC.
An earlier signal came in Hyderabad, at the launch of a book on Telangana's history by Mallikarjun Kharge. Around 15 MLAs, including several who came to the Congress from the BRS, did not turn up.
The timing is poor for the party. The Congress won Telangana in December 2023 and has to go into local body elections with an organisation that is already being pulled in different directions. Leaders and cadre have begun to say aloud what the numbers suggest: a party fighting itself campaigns badly.
The complaints from ministers and MLAs keep growing, and the list is said to be longer than what has reached the public. The AICC has not taken a clear position on the dispute so far. What happens next depends on the report sitting with the state leadership.