TDP group rivalry to the fore

​Guntur: Barely two days after the anguish expressed by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu over growing ‘indiscipline’ in his party at a meeting in Vijayawada, the 30- year-old Guntur Zilla Parishad Chairperson Janimun of the TDP literally broke down at a media conference, fearing a threat to her family from Social Welfare Minister Ravela Kishore Babu.

The plight of the woman leader lay bare the simmering group rivalries in the ruling TDP. She chose to give vent to her telltale woes at the media conference after lodging a complaint to the Guntur Urban SP Sarvasreshta Tripathi, fearing a life threat to her family from the social welfare minister.

She was understood to have been left with no option but to go to the media even after her pleas to Chief Minister and party general secretary Nara Lokesh seeking to rein in Ravela failed to yield any result.

According to Janimun, a group of around 20 unidentified persons raided her house and intimidated her family members at the behest of the minister during the last Ramzan festival. A first-timer in politics, she won the Kakumanu Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) on the TDP ticket.

Subsequently, she was handpicked by the party leadership for the coveted ZP chief post under the BC-Women quota. The TDP was bound to field a Muslim candidate in the Guntur-1 Assembly segment in the last elections in keeping with the convention and numerical strength of the Muslim Minorities.

When it failed to do so due to some political equations, luck favoured Janmuni which helped her occupy the top post in the ZP. Although she is a new entrant in politics, her husband Gabbar is a committed party worker for several years.

The minister is alleged to have nursed a grudge against Janmuni’s family, suspecting that Gabbar is working against him in the constituency. However, the joy of holding the top post at a young age did not last long and it soon proved to be not a bed of roses for her following alleged hostility from Kishore Babu.

Incidentally, the minister represents Prattipadu (SC reserved) constituency under which Janimun’s Kakumanu ZP falls. She alleged that the minister was out to spoil her political career by ensuring that her ZPTC was subjected to discrimination and bias in sanction of developmental works.

Thus, she said, Ravela was trying to reduce her to be a non-entity in her own constituency. According to sources, the government has sanctioned Rs 3cr under the SC and ST sub-plan for the minister’s home constituency recently and Janimun’s Kukumanu ZP was denied any fund under the plan.

This proved to be the proverbial last straw for her to take the issue to its logical end. Ravela, however, made light of the alleged threat perception of the Janimun, describing her as his daughter at a media conference.

He hurriedly called the media to present his view point soon after her outbursts. Finding fault with the woman leader for going to the media, he said he will sort out differences if any with her. Meanwhile, the style of functioning of the social welfare minister in his own constituency became controversial sometime back on another occasion.

Guntur Rural Mandal Parishat president Thota Lakshmi Kumari went on a fast a few days ago, resenting the alleged dictatorial functioning of the minister.

Ravela, an Indian Railway Service (IRS) officer who served as Officer on Special Duty in the office of the former Lok Sabha speaker the late GMC Balayogi, gave a voluntary retirement for his service and took a plunge into politics in 2014 elections.

Ravela hit the headlines sometime back when his son allegedly indulged in a sexual assault on a Muslim teacher in Hyderabad

By: V L SYAM SUNDAR