Warangal: Naini Rajender Reddy, Katla Srinivas Rao face-off?

Warangal: The simmering internal bickering in the Congress showed up in open when the two rival groups, allegedly led by two top leaders, clashed with each other, thus indicating all is not well in the party that is already down in the dumps since its electoral debacle in Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

The young leaders, who gathered at the Congress Bhavan on Sunday for the flag hoisting ceremony marking the Youth Congress Foundation Day, appeared charged up to show their ascendancy in the party affairs.

It's learnt that the flare-up between the two factions was over the hoisting of party flag, and in the centre of controversy were Warangal West Assembly Constituency (Youth) President Thota Pavan and Warangal Lok Sabha Constituency (Youth) President G Ramakanth Reddy.

Although Pavan and Ramakanth were in the thick of the flare-up at the event, the party sources say that behind them flexing their muscles were the Warangal DCC President Naini Rajender Reddy and City President Katla Srinivas Rao. The party sources further added that although Naini and Katla remained close associates for a long time, of late the terms between them were not as good as the party leadership would have desired.

It's also said that differences cropped up between them during the 2018 Assembly elections. However, both the leaders kept them under the wraps.

Speaking to The Hans India, G Ramakanth Reddy said, "Thota Pavan along with some outsiders attacked Warangal West Assembly segment (Youth) President Muppidi Sravan and Warangal Lok Sabha Constituency (Youth) General Secretary Raj Kumar without any reason." He also questioned the rationale behind DCC chief's overenthusiasm to hoist the party flag on Youth Congress Foundation Day. Further, he accused the DCC President of supporting Thota Pavan.

On the other hand, Thota Pavan said: "Some leaders who have links with the ruling TRS party are trying to disrupt the unity in the party. The other group started the brawl after the flag hoisting."

Meanwhile, the DCC chief told this newspaper that he has nothing to do with the incident as it happened well after he left the party office. "I contacted both the groups and tried to convince them not to over blow the issue by taking the matter to the streets." Responding to a question, the DCC chief said that Youth Congress Telangana President Anil Kumar Yadav had appointed Thota Pavan as the youth wing president of the Warangal west Assembly constituency.

"Although Naini and Katla were at loggerheads for some time, this is the first time that their rivalry came to fore. Interestingly, both the leaders are said to be close to TPCC President N Uttam Kumar Reddy," a senior Congress leader said.