The Congress party, which is desperate to build up an anti-BJP alliance at the national level in the run-up to the general elections in 2019, does not want to antagonise Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
In fact, rumblings have begun in the Telangana Congress leaders soon after the party’s debacle in the recent assembly elections.
Some of the party leaders like star campaigner Vijayashanti, MLA T Jagga Reddy and PCC campaign committee chairman Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka openly expressed their views stating that the campaign by Naidu had done more damage than good to the party in the elections, as Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao fully exploited the Telangana self-respect sentiment.
However, the Congress leadership does not want to shift the blame on Naidu in the larger interests of the grand alliance at the national level.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday virtually gave a clean chit to Naidu, stating that the latter had no role in the defeat of the Congress party in the assembly elections.
“I don’t think Naidu’s campaign in the elections was the cause of the Congress party’s debacle in the elections. There are several other reasons for it. I feel it would have been better had the seat sharing among the alliance partners was completed a little earlier,” he said.
At the same time, Uttam Kumar Reddy said the Congress party would soon take a call on continuing the alliance with the TDP in the coming elections, too.
“We shall discuss with AICC in-charge of Telangana affairs R C Khuntia and come to a decision in this regard,” he said.
He said the party is making an introspection for its defeat in the elections.
“We submitted a preliminary report to the high command and a final report will be sent in three or four days,” Uttam said.