In February, All India Congress Committee (AICC) Telangana chief Meenakshi Natarajan traveled by practice from Delhi to Hyderabad. Natarajan, carrying an peculiar bag over his shoulder, was obtained by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president B. Mahesh Kumar Goud and a number of other celebration staff.
“She is an sincere particular person and a Gandhian. She won’t be corrupted and won’t be offered out,” stated a celebration chief who is aware of Natarajan effectively. However in his first 9 months in workplace, the previous NSUI president and former MP, identified for his closeness to opposition chief Rahul Gandhi, has made extra enemies than buddies within the Telangana Meeting.
“She’s not a political particular person,” stated a senior Congressional official, one in every of her many critics. “Some individuals who left the Congress have accused Rahul Gandhi of being surrounded by ‘NGO-type folks’. She is one in every of them.”
The dissatisfaction with Natarajan inside the celebration comes amid confusion amongst celebration members over the District Congress Committee (DCC) appointments made beneath her watch. For instance, celebration spokesperson DY Giri, who was in control of Dornakal constituency, resigned as he was not thought of for the DCC submit. Whereas Mr. Giri spoke out in opposition to the “injustice” confronted, Congress chief from Nalgonda, G. Mohan Reddy, additionally resigned from the celebration citing “unfair” DCC appointments.
“Some individuals who had been energetic on the bottom had been ignored and people who had been loyal to her had been rewarded. This created issues even on the DCC and sales space degree. Folks had been leaving the celebration and issuing statements in opposition to the AICC,” a Congress supply stated.
However Natarajan’s supporters declare he was solely following directions from AICC observers. “The particular person chosen by the AICC observers was given the submit of DCC president. Meenakshi Natarajan by no means interfered in these appointments,” stated a frontrunner near her.
The previous MP from Mansaur in Madhya Pradesh continues to benefit from the help of the Congress excessive command and TPCC chairman Goud. “I’ve no grudge in opposition to Meenakshi ji. She is an sincere and really admirable politician. All the selections taken on the state degree (together with the appointment of DCC) are based mostly on enter from the bottom,” Goud advised The Indian Categorical.
“Ideas with stipulations concerning politics”
In March-April, when the Revanth Reddy authorities was dealing with a backlash over its proposal to clear 400 acres of land allotted to the College of Hyderabad, Natarajan displeased many within the celebration. The marketing campaign, led by college students, lecturers and civil society, introduced the college’s biodiversity to the fore and argued that the state mustn’t public sale off land. Congress insiders stated Natarajan supported the marketing campaign and opposed the chief minister.
“This was authorities land value not less than Rs 10,000 crore. She ought to have supported the state authorities in its struggle for authorized rights over this land even throughout troublesome occasions,” the chief stated. “Meenakshi mainly stated that the land ought to be handed over to the college. Nobody within the state authorities agreed with this choice,” stated one other celebration chief.
A Congress chief stated Mr. Natarajan has a “preconditioned idea of what politics ought to be” with out “dealing with actuality, particularly in Telangana, the place cash guidelines the roost”.
One other critic of the celebration additionally questioned the way wherein the celebration contested the high-profile Jubilee Hills by-election, wherein it managed to wrest a seat from the Bharat Rashtra Samiti Occasion. “Everybody within the state is a businessman or in any other case, and the AICC in cost believes elections ought to be a low-key affair. She was not in favor of getting a troublesome, high-decibel, high-profile struggle within the by-elections. She thought there ought to be an ideological battle in Telangana, however the actuality on the bottom urged it was a battle of energy, wits and cash,” the Congress chief stated.
One other concern inside the celebration is the “five-year rule” promoted by Natarajan and his camp. “She has persistently supported individuals who can declare to have spent a number of years within the Congress. She has created an insider-outsider state of affairs within the celebration,” a Congress chief alleged, however sources near the AICC management deny this.
A Congress chief stated the celebration had been left “bare and barren” in the course of the 10 years of the Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi authorities and wanted to be constructed from scratch once more. “When there are such realities, you can’t have an AICC chief who claims to help solely those that have been within the Congress for not less than 5 years.” Even Revanth Reddy, who joined the Congress from the Telugu Desam Occasion (TDP) in 2017, didn’t go down effectively together with his supporters.
However Natarajan’s supporters level to her efforts to revive and strengthen the group on the grassroots. In late July and early August, she launched into a cross-state padayatra, modeled on Gandhi’s Bharat Pure Land Yatra. However the jury rejected the political profit it introduced.
