TPCC fails to elect CLP chief

• It is left to Sonia Gandhi to select CLP chief
• She is likely to announce the name on June 3
• Leaders indulge in blame game for poll debacle

Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC), which met here for about three hours, failed to arrive at a consensus as to who should be the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly and true to Congress tradition, it decided to leave the matter to AICC president Sonia Gandhi, who would soon take a decision. This would mean that the AICC will send the name in a sealed cover. The party would elect the CLP leader at the meeting scheduled on June 3. The meeting that was held at the residence of the TPCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah endorsed the TRS line to oppose the ordinance transferring seven mandals of Bhadrachalam to Andhra Pradesh. The TPCC in a resolution demanded that the Centre to withdraw the ordinance and announced that it would extend support to the agitation against the transfer of the seven mandals.

Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, party senior leader K Jana Reddy said that the Congress would conduct victory rallies and public meetings in the districts as part of celebrations of Formation of Telangana State from Sunday evening and that the party would take part actively in the development of new T State. He added that TPCC would take up a campaign to drive home the point that it was only the Congress that could make the dreams of Telangana people a reality. Sources said that majority of the leaders in the meeting felt that the lack of coordination and strong leadership during the election period was one of the main reasons for the party’s debacle at the hustings.

The reason for not performing well in the elections was that the party failed to convince the government employees who played a key role in the T movement and also in the elections. Leaders expressed dissatisfaction for not being able to gain political benefit in the election though the Congress awarded Telangana, he said. The meeting, however, is learnt to have witnessed some fireworks on the issue of the party’s poor performance in the elections and the leaders tried to push the blame on each other. It is understood that Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, D K Aruna, K Jana Reddy are vying with each other for the post of Leader of Opposition. According to party sources, Komatireddy even indicated that if he does not get either the post of Leader of Opposition or TPCC president, he might have to think of his political future.