Rahul’s directive as her compass, Natarajan returns to Telangana amid ‘discomfort’ in Revanth camp

Hyderabad: Armed with a directive from former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Meenakshi Natarajan, the All-India Congress Committee’s trusted representative to Telangana, is implementing structural changes within the party and firmly streamlining decision-making, Congress party leaders have told ThePrint. The AICC in-charge’s first visit to the state last week came after her bid for a Rajya Sabha seat ended prematurely in June, when her nomination was rejected for allegedly failing to disclose a pending case.

Shrugging off the embarrassment over the undisclosed case pending before a district court, her recent visit marked a significant shift in strategy as she began pushing structural changes to strengthen the party’s base and ensure its cadre looked to Delhi, rather than Hyderabad, party leaders told ThePrint.

As she got down to brass tacks, Meenakshi organised small-group meetings with district Congress committee (DCC) presidents to address internal factionalism. DCCs were asked to submit reports of their meetings with the cadres in villages and constituencies. 

“We were asked why reports of the meetings were not sent to the party president or proof of the meetings were not uploaded to the state party website,” said one of the DCC presidents who was part of the closed-door meeting. 

Even as she presided over meetings with the DCC heads, similar one-on-one meetings were held with MLAs and ministers, and strict performance audits were conducted. 

She warned the elected representatives that they would be replaced if they were found to be underperforming, party sources said. She encouraged party cadres to write to her anonymously stating complaints about leaders who were not addressing issues raised by them. The district-wise survey form that was circulated among the cadres sought the cadre to name the chief minister too if he was found unconcerned about responding to cadres.  

“There was a spurt in the number of complaints when she asked us to state our grievances without making our names public,” a party leader, who is the head of the Backward Classes community from Jagityal, said.

Ministers and MLAs belonging to the “original Congress”, a term used to refer to leaders who have been in the party before and during late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s term, are seemingly delighted to see the “Office of Meenakshi Natarajan” strengthened. 

Meenakshi’s way of functioning reminds them of the time when Ghulam Nabi Azad and Digvijay Singh were in charge of the state (then united Andhra Pradesh). However, along with Revanth Reddy, several Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders joined since 2017. 

With her back in the driving seat, the cadre are now assured of fair accommodation to over 100 nominated posts that are waiting to be allocated to partymen across the districts. 

“One of Meenakshi’s major tasks is to pacify rebels within the party and pacify the cabinet aspirants. She has personally mediated with disgruntled leaders, assuring them of a speedy intervention,” State Congress Working Committee member Jagga Reddy told ThePrint. 

“Ahead of the crucial Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections and the Zilla Parishad and Mandal Parishad elections, she wants the leaders to launch intensive village-stay outreach programmes and organise meetings for the people to share their grievances if the welfare schemes have not reached them,” Jagga Reddy added. 

Senior leaders such as Jagga Reddy and K. Rajagopal Reddy belong to the “original Congress” camp who are keen on the party’s realignment with the centralised chain of command rather than with the state-centred alignment.

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‘Discomfort’ in CM camp

This streamlining of protocol and district-level monitoring of operations has seemingly caused the CM and his camp discomfort, leaders say. “As soon as Revanth Reddy went to Delhi last week, Meenakshi Natarajan got here. She held meetings with office bearers and said all decision-making has to bear her stamp of approval and the high command’s,” another leader, who was a minister during YSR’s term, said. 

However, even as the dissenters within the Congress camp celebrate Meenakshi’s reassertion, they are confronted by the reality of Revanth Reddy’s popularity in the state. 

Political analysts concur, and Kalyan Chandra, a political observer, said, “Despite all the displeasure caused by the chief minister, the Congress cannot sanction Revanth Reddy because they have not been able to establish a Number Two command centre in the state.”  

He drew parallels between YSR and the then APCC President D Srinivas; Rosaiah and Kiran Kumar Reddy as chief ministers and Jana Reddy as the PCC president, who were strong command centres having established lines of communication with the Gandhis. 

“At the end of the day, Revanth Reddy is a leader who can expend resources for the party. While there are plenty of other old-timers who could shoulder this responsibility, they are reluctant to bet on the party as long as Reddy is in the chair. So, Meenakshi Natarajan could take the reins in her hands, but with Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh elections preceding Telangana elections, the party will still be forced to turn to Revanth Reddy for assisting the state-level Congress units during the election,” Kalyan Chandra said. 

And Meenakshi Natarajan seems to know this one too well as she disarmingly smiles when leaders question if they could expect a change of leadership.

(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)

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