Senior Congress leader resigns, writes letter to Sonia Gandhi on corruption

Hyderabad:

In a jolt to the Congress in Telangana, senior party leader and former minister Marri Sashidhar Reddy, son of former undivided Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Marri Channa Reddy, quit the party on Tuesday.

Shashidhar Reddy, who had been a loyal Congressman for several decades and even headed a ‘Congress Loyalists Forum’ of Telangana Congress leaders, sent his resignation to AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge.

He addressed a letter to top leader Sonia Gandhi explaining the reasons for his resignation.

In the letter, he wrote about the alleged growing influence of money in the party’s affairs, its failure to effectively take on the ruling TRS in Telangana and the poor functioning of AICC in-charges and PCC presidents.

The party’s symbol in the 1960s was ‘a pair of oxen’ and then ‘cow and calf’, recalling her and her late father’s long association with the Congress since then, saying it was on her father’s advice That later Indira Gandhi opted for the “hand” symbol.

He alleged that the dominance of money in the affairs of the party was increasing.

“They (AICC in-charge) have consistently failed to act as representatives of the high command and were consistently playing to promote personal agenda of PCC presidents and failed to protect the interests of the party. It is impossible to believe that much That money is not a driving force,” he said in a letter to Sonia Gandhi.

“There are enough instances which give rise to the suspicion that it was not only Telangana AICC in-charge Manickam Tagore who was the recipient of leniency from PCC president Revanth Reddy, but also AICC principal general secretary KC Venugopal (I take full responsibility for this). I am talking with, although I have not seen any money transaction between them.

Giving credit for the formation of Telangana to Sonia Gandhi, Shashidhar Reddy said that the Congress in the state, however, could not take advantage of it.

He said there has been a steady decline in the electoral performance of the Congress since 2014 and the party has missed opportunities to take on the TRS and challenge its misdeeds.

He claimed that the ruling TRS had been allowed to go ‘unclean’ and it was widely felt that some leaders at the top of the Congress had been compromised, and as a result, people had gradually lost faith in the party’s leadership. started losing

Sashidhar Reddy further alleged that successive AICC in-charges, starting with Digvijaya Singh, had done great harm to the party and the views of party men like him were ignored to appoint a loyalist as PCC president. .

He also wrote about the alleged failure of State Congress President Revanth Reddy in building the party organization and the latter’s unhelpful attitude towards some senior leaders and issues.

“For me, it is Telangana first right now. As Congress has miserably failed to play its role as the main opposition with a commitment to protect the interests of the people, I wish to bid farewell to the party and look for viable alternatives.” Want to chase and contribute to saving people.” from the clutches of the ruling TRS party,” he said.

He also thanked the Congress for making late PV Narasimha Rao a minister when he was prime minister and Congress president, and for appointing him to the post of vice-chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) during the UPA regime.

Shashidhar Reddy said that he would join the BJP on November 25 in Delhi.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)