Telangana Congress in a huddle after roaring success of BRS Elkathurthy meeting

With the local body elections round the corner, Chandrashekhar Rao’s scathing attack on the State government for failing to fulfil its promises has left the Congress think-tank anxious

Hyderabad: One hour of K Chandrashekhar Rao standing behind a microphone before a massive crowd was enough to trigger confusion, indecision and fear within the Congress, leaving the ruling party in utter chaos.

The first signs of this was when four or five Ministers jumped into reacting to what Chandrashekhar Rao spoke, barely minutes after the Elkathurthy meeting ended. And then, on Monday, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy rushed into a huddle with senior Congress leader and former Minister K Jana Reddy at his residence.

In the meanwhile, Cabinet Ministers, MLAs and TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud, apart from other Congress leaders, kept making bids to make light of the BRS meeting.

The Chief Minister’s visit to Jana Reddy’s residence, according to officials, was “officially” to discuss Operation Kagar and his government’s stance on the same. But when Revanth Reddy himself had said that the government would announce its stance only after the party high command decided, revealed that the meeting was much beyond Operation Kagar.

During the meeting, which lasted for nearly two hours, leaders, including Advisors K Keshava Rao and Vem Narender Reddy, also are learnt to have discussed the Elkathurthy meeting.

With the local body elections round the corner, Chandrashekhar Rao’s scathing attack on the State government for failing to fulfil its promises has left the Congress think-tank anxious. Soon after the Warangal event concluded, the Ministers met the media outside the Chief Minister’s residence, indicating that they were all huddled together, listening to the BRS supremo.

Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, admitting that the BRS chief’s speech was followed by a few Cabinet Ministers, tried to downplay the success of the BRS meeting, while Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, despite visuals of lakhs at the venue, claimed that half of the chairs were empty at the venue. “It is an utter flop meeting,” he said with Ministers Jupally Krishna Rao and D Anasuya also trying to say that it was not a success.

With the Elkathurthy meeting clearly showing that the public was waiting for Chandrashekhar Rao, the Congress government’s moves over the next few days, as it tries to stop the BRS juggernaut, remain to be seen.