Those who are in the forefront of Telangana or Andhra movements are no longer the “blue-eyed boys” for the Congress leadership.
Leaders with moderate views and those who remained “within the limits” were considered by the party for any post in the last two years.
This was amply evident in the selection of the candidates for Legislative Council on Sunday. While Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy, Ali Mohd Shabber and Santosh Kumar are from Telangana and have been demanding separate state, they were never critical of the high command for delaying the decision on the issue.
Many senior Congress leaders in Telangana including Panchayat Raj Minister K Jana Reddy have realized that voicing the demand for Telangana will not take them anywhere but they have already burnt their fingers as the party has already filled up Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council seats, expanded the Cabinets in the State and at the Centre.
Indications are that there will be no change in the leadership in the state and Jana Reddy has to be content as one of the ministers in the Congress government.
Even during the last year’s biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha, the party selected leaders like Palvai Govardhan Reddy, Rapolu Ananda Bhaskar and Renuka Choudhary from the region. Though they too supported the Telangana state, they remained loyal to the party leadership.
In contrast, former Congress Working Committee member and the then Rajya Sabha member K Keshava Rao, the most vocal among all, expected a re-nomination for the third term to the Upper House last year, he was simply dumped aside. But for taking part in the meetings of the half a dozen Telangana Congress MPs, he is not seen anywhere.
Even during the Cabinet expansion in October last year, leaders like Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, who was leading the united Andhra Pradesh movement or V Hanumantha Rao, who was talking fiercely in support division of the state were never considered for a berth in the Union Cabinet.
P Balaram Naik and Sarve Satyanarayana from Telangana, Dr Killi Kruparani, K Chiranjeevi and Kotla Jayasuryaprakash were made Union ministers. All these leaders stayed away from controversies.
Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmogan Reddy expected to be rewarded after the untimely demise of Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, but a section of leaders ensured that he quit on his own by making uncharitable remarks against his family while former chief minister K Rosaiah was made Governor of Tamil Nadu for his loyalty to the party.
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