Discipline, leadership and integrity are reshaping the party’s Telangana unit
Telangana endowments minister Konda Surekha’s ouster from chief minister A. Revanth Reddy’s Cabinet stands testimony to the generational shift in the Congress DNA under Rahul Gandhi, underscoring his insistence on discipline, respect for the chain of command, and integrity — qualities long eroded in the party’s state units.
For decades, Congress was synonymous with factional feuds, often vicious, with each camp enjoying the blessings of a patron in Delhi. Indira Gandhi, the party’s most powerful leader, institutionalised this infighting in the name of “equilibrium,” primarily to ensure that no regional satrap grows powerful enough to challenge her own leadership. Chief ministers were replaced with such frequency that critics quipped she changed them as swiftly as her attire.
Rahul Gandhi’s era has consciously broken from this “katputli” culture. By giving chief ministers free hand to a large extent and refusing to lend an ear to dissidents, he has been trying to write a new script. The recent change of guard in Karnataka is more of an issue of integrity — honouring
the adjustment reached out between Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar, rather than succumbing to dissidence.
Establishing another principle, respecting chain of command, the central leadership approved sacking of Ms Surekha and another party veteran G. Chinna Reddy from Cabinet-rank posts for attacking Mr Revanth. The move established his leadership beyond doubt and put to rest any speculation over his replacement, propaganda in which the main Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) seems to be finding solace rather than believing in its own strength to fight and stage a comeback in the next general elections.
With the talk of growing anti-incumbency gaining traction and after gaining strength from Rahul’s enormous support, it is high time for Revanth Reddy also to establish an emotional connect with party legislators and leaders, which is clearly missing, and take all along with him. He also has to drive the administration to deliver what all he has been promising. As greater responsibility comes with greater power, he should ensure bringing the Congress back to power and giving the highest number of Lok Sabha seats to realise what he frequently refers to as the dream of making Rahul PM.
