Ravela-Janimun row refuses to die

​Guntur: The embers of the smoldering intra-party squabbles in the TDP that manifested in a showdown between Guntur Zilla Parishad Chairperson Janimun and Social Welfare minister Ravela Kishore Babu refuse to die down even a day after the face-off.

The showdown has its echoes found in Guntur district and elsewhere across the State throughout the day on Saturday even as Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has appointed a three-member fact-finding committee, comprising district in-charge minister Nimmakayala Chinarajappa, district party president GV Anjaneyulu and MLA Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary.

The committee is expected to summon both the leaders for inquiry soon and submit a report to the CM with its findings.

A senior leader from the TDP said the fate of the minister may be decided basing on the findings of the report.

Janimun’s two-and-a-half year term is scheduled to end on January 5 as her post will go to Padmalatha, another party leader, on a rotation basis.

Action against the minister, hailing from scheduled castes, if warranted, is unlikely to be initiated before the cabinet expansion overdue for long, given the sensitive nature of the issue.

Both the groups continued to wash their dirty linen on the second day too. A group backed by the minister charged that the ZP chief was steeped in corruption at a media conference at Prattipadu, Ravela’s home constituency.

Kishore Babu’s supporters demanded action against Janimun by the party top brass for making baseless allegations against the minister.

Another group under the banner of Muslim Welfare Association staged a demonstration in defence of Janimun in the city while demanding the sacking of the minister.

It is not for the first time Ravela hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. The actions of his two sons-one in Hyderabad allegedly sexually abused a school teacher from Muslim minorities and another one caused nuisance at the girls hotel in Guntur district in an inebriated condition—delivered a ‘sonstroke’ to the minister.

A senior leader from TDP in Guntur district said it is unlikely that the Janimun’s case will cost his position because of his two survival techniques—Babu pleasing and Jagan bashing.

The infighting in the TDP has obviously become a feed for the opposition. The YSRC leaders Roja and Ambati Rambabu at different media conferences in Visakhapatnam and Guntur alleged that there was no safety for women, weaker sections and minorities groups, showing the case of Janimun as evidence.

Meanwhile, the ruling party seems finding itself on a sticky wicket with the differences between the two important leaders from the district spilling over to the streets.

Interestingly, both Ravela and Janimun found their way into the plum positions in the last minute without any prior base in the party.

According to sources, Ravela was said to have received the party membership from the TDP district office in Guntur only after receiving the B-Form for the Assembly ticket for the Prattipadu Assembly segment in 2014 Assembly elections.

The party hardcore loyalists are of the view that the party’s image is bound to take a beating if the party leadership favours outsiders without any party commitment as public representatives.