Revanth kickstarts padayatra from Medaram

Pasra (Mulugu): Facing a tempest of a situation in the party with the senior leaders chugging in different directions, TPCC president A Revanth Reddy kicked off his 60-day 'Haath se Haath jodo' padayatra from the altars of tribal deities - Sammakka Saralamma - at Medaram in Mulugu district on Monday.

Despite the presence of a good number of party cadres because of the influence of local MLA Danasari Anasuya alias Seethakka, Revanth's the long-awaited padayatra began on a lacklustre note. Senior leaders like Damodar Narasimha, Uttam Kumar Reddy, K Jana Reddy were conspicuous by their absence.

Revanth, who spoke at a roadshow at Pasra late in the evening, failed to evoke a response from the locals. He launched a broadside against the BJP-led Centre and the BRS Government in the State. He accused the BJP of relying on communal politics to stay in power. "The BJP is relying on divisive politics rather than focusing on the welfare of the poor," he said. In the run up to his padayatra, Revanth Reddy faced criticism for not inviting senior leaders Komatireddy Venkatreddy and not allowing them to take up padayatras in their respective assembly segments. The seniors alleged that Revanth Reddy was giving priority to only his group.

They feel that before fighting communal politics, the politics within the party need to be addressed if it were to win a good number of seats in the state in the next elections. It has the capacity to win a substantial number of seats provided it can work as one and the responsibility of this lies with TPCC president and party high command, seniors say.

It may be recalled that recently a group of senior leaders had revolted against the TPCC president. Though the new state incharge Manik Rao Thakre made some attempts to see that the storm was blown over, those who rebelled seem to have taken a step backward strategically.