Congress vows to ‘douse fire' amid rifts within party
Telangana Congress
disciplinary action committee convened at Gandhi Bhavan on Sunday to address remarks made by party MLA Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy.
Chaired by Mallu Ravi, with vice chairman Shyam Mohan Anantula, the committee resolved to take up the matter in its next meeting scheduled for Tuesday.
During the meeting, it was also decided to send four senior party members to Warangal to mediate and resolve differences between minister Konda Surekha, her husband Konda Murali, and party MLAs, MLCs, and MPs from the erstwhile district.
Following the meeting, Mallu Ravi said he discussed the remarks made by Komatireddy Raj Gopal with Telangana Congress president Mahesh Kumar Goud. The committee is currently collecting all statements and video footage related to the comments, which will be presented during Tuesday's meeting.
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When questioned about possible disciplinary measures against Komatireddy Raj Gopal, Mallu Ravi said, "My responsibility is to douse the fire, not ignite it. We are reviewing Raj Gopal's comments. The committee will decide on further action after hearing his version. However, indiscipline and violation of party rules will not be tolerated."
Over the past two weeks, Komatireddy Raj Gopal has publicly stated that he was promised a cabinet berth, which has not been honoured, and held senior party leaders responsible.
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He also questioned whether the AICC and TPCC were unaware that there would be two brothers—himself and his elder brother Komatireddy Venkat Reddy—in the cabinet when the promise was made during the Lok Sabha elections, at which time both were MLAs and Venkat was already a minister.
Regarding the attempted attack on former MLA T Narsa Reddy by a section of party leaders, Ravi noted that the incident took place in the presence of labour minister G Vivek Venkatswamy. "We will give an ear to all the leaders and take action accordingly," he said.
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