Congress MLA from Munugode Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, who has been training his guns at chief minister A Revanth Reddy for quite some time, has stepped up his attack, saying the chief minister was more interested in putting up a personal show, rather than strengthening the party.
Speaking in an interview with a television channel, Rajagopal accused the party leadership of sidelining senior Congress leaders and giving preference to recent entrants.
He expressed strong dissatisfaction over the functioning of the state leadership, particularly over the appointment of the Yadagirigutta Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple Trust Board.
The MLA alleged that he was completely ignored during the selection process despite representing Munugode assembly constituency, which falls within Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district.
Rajagopal Reddy said he was neither consulted nor informed about the trust board appointments and described the omission as disappointing.
He pointed out that, as a senior Congress leader and the MLA from the district, the party leadership should have at least discussed the appointments with him.
“Had he been consulted, he said, he would have recommended a representative from his Munugode constituency for inclusion in the trust board. Instead, the decisions were taken unilaterally without involving local elected representatives,” he said.
The Munugode MLA also criticised the functioning of the state government, alleging that there was an increasing emphasis on publicity and "showmanship" rather than collective decision-making.
He said senior leaders deserved greater respect and cautioned that a one-sided style of functioning would create difficulties for the party.
Rajagopal Reddy revealed that this dissatisfaction was the reason he skipped Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's recent public meeting in Nalgonda.
He clarified that he chose not to attend because he was unhappy with the leadership's style of functioning.
However, he maintained that he continued to remain in touch with the Chief Minister, had also met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and remained actively involved in party programmes.
Rajagopal Reddy also voiced concern over what he described as the declining importance of "original Congress" leaders within the party.
Questioning where the long-serving Congress leaders had gone, he alleged that leaders who had joined the party only recently were now dominating organisational affairs, while those who had worked for the Congress and the Telangana movement from the beginning were gradually being marginalised.
He further claimed that the culture of respecting senior leaders was weakening within the Congress.
