Sonia red over defections; TPCC rejig likely

Hyderabad: The Congress high command is set to crack the whip against the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) leadership for their failure in stopping the party leaders and elected representatives from shifting loyalties to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in the last six months.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Sonia Gandhi on Friday issued memos to the TPCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah, CLP leader K Jana Reddy and party working president N Uttam Kumar Reddy and asked explanation on their inability in curbing the migration of the Congress MLAs, MLCs and other elected representatives to the ruling TRS.

“Sonia expressed serious concern over the weakening of the party under the present TPCC leadership. She was not at all happy on the performance of the three leaders who failed to curb the migrations to TRS,” a senior party leader in the AICC told The Hans India. She also instructed the party in-chrage and AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh to submit a detailed report on the affairs of the party in Telangana, particularly after four MLAs and nine MLCs joined the TRS immediately after K Chandrasekhar Rao assumed charge as Chief Minister of TS.

Digvijay spoke to the defected leaders over phone in the morning and asked them to submit their explanation at the earliest. Party sources said the fresh joining of the lone Zilla Parishad Chairman from Congress in Telangana and senior leader from Nalgonda K Balu Naik to the TRS angered the AICC. Sonia took strong note of the failure of Jana Reddy and Uttam Kumar Reddy in containing the migrations. The party high command would summon all the senior leaders to New Delhi by January end and seek their opinion on the constitution of new TPCC and strengthening of the party in the coming days. Some senior leaders already complained against the trio to the party high command and urged Sonia to change the guards of the party in Telangana.