Internecine feuds rage among Andhra Congress groups

With elections to all levels of the local bodies in Andhra Pradesh now complete and Assembly elections being easily a little over three years away, Congressmen in the State are keeping themselves busy with their internecine wars.

"That's one of the ways to keep the troops battle-ready," laughed a senior leader when asked to comment on the faction feud currently on in the party.

The expulsion of Kurnool faction leader Vishnuvardhan Reddy from the party is the latest twist to the proxy war between Congress Legislature Party leader Y.S. Rajashekhara Reddy and former chief minister Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy, that broke out over a month ago.

Vishnuvardhan Reddy had led a sit-in at the Congress headquarters, Gandhi Bhavan, here early this month demanding that Vijayabhaskar Reddy be expelled from the party for sabotaging prospects of party candidates in the elections to Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency elections.

It seems like poetic justice that now Vishnuvardhan's exit was scripted by Vijayabhaskar Reddy's son, Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy, in his role as the Kurnool District Congress Committee president. The resolution endorsing the expulsion was passed unanimously on Tuesday.

"There was sufficient evidence against Vishnuvardhan Reddy that he had indulged in anti-party activity by fielding a rebel candidate in the recent election to the Kurnool mandal president", Suryaprakash Reddy said.

Another round that the Vijayabhaskar Reddy faction won was in the stringent attack by loyalist Jeevan Reddy on former union minister G. Venkata-swamy, who has faded from the party scene in the State since losing the Lok Sabha election two years ago.

In an apparent effort to throw his weight behind Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee President, M. Satyanarayana Rao (and by implication supporting Rajashekhar Reddy), Venkata-swamy said that Vijayabhaskar Reddy was "undermining" the role of the PCC chief.

Jeevan Reddy attacked Venkataswamy calling him an "agent" of Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar. Jeevan Reddy, pointing out that Vijayabhaskar Reddy's loyalty to the Gandhi family was unquestioned, said that Venkataswamy's allegiance was suspect.

Interestingly, Jeevan Reddy himself defected from the Telugu Desam Party to the Congress some years ago.