TDP’s Telangana leaders leave for Delhi on protest mission

MUTUAL SUSPICIONS, RECRIMINATIONS PULLING THEIR T BOGIE APART
Express News Service
First Published : 24 Oct 2010 04:22:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 24 Oct 2010 10:45:55 AM IST

HYDERABAD: The train journey to Delhi by leaders of the Telangana TDP Forum began from the Secunderabad railway station today but the T-bogie is being pulled in different directions by the party’s T-seniors.

TTDP Forum convener Nagam Janardhan Reddy, according to sources, has complained that it was T Devender Goud who had proposed the Delhi tour to party chief N Chandrababu Naidu but did not take active role in organising the tour. Then Reddy took the lead ``to claim’’ all the credit for the Delhi show, his opponents question his financial contribution to the jaunt as the special train consisting of 18 bogies cost the party around ` 30 lakh.

The Janardhan Reddy group, however, refutes the charge saying that no one had come forward to meet the expenses and it was Reddy who mobilised the needed money.

As if one is not enough the party is beset with another controversy. Some leaders are spitting fire at M Narsimhulu for describing Telangana Praja Front leader Gadar as a `Monagadu’ (hero). Moreover, Narasimhulu made the remark in the presence of Naidu. ``If Gadar is the only he-man, what about the seniors in the party? Are they not manly enough?’’ they wonder.

But Narsimhulu has a point, say his supporters. ``Why are the leaders, who had served as ministers for nine years, not shelling out money from their pockets for the T-cause?’’ they say.

Another leader, E Dayakar Rao, has declared recently that they will also meet the Union water resources minister and the Central Water Commission chief and submit a memorandum on the Babli project during their visit to Delhi. ``How can Dayakar Rao club the Babli and Telangana issues?’’ question his detractors in the party. ``It is Dayakar’s own agenda and has nothing to do with the objectives of the forum’s Delhi visit,’’ says a senior leader.

The propaganda material on the train journey printed by the TTDPF too has invited criticism within the party as the pamphlet contains no photo of NT Rama Rao or Naidu or even the party’s symbol. “I only finalised the write-up but have not seen the proof,” says a leader.

But these mutual recriminations within the TDP make its rivals, including the TRS, smile. Naidu is opposed to statehood being given to Telangana and it is only appropriate that his photo is not carried in the publicity material, they say.