Telangana Congress leader Jeevan Reddy quits, charges party of violating Constitution

Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader and former minister T Jeevan Reddy resigned from the ruling Congress on Wednesday, citing what he described as the party's betrayal of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's rallying call "Jai Bhim, Jai Babu, Jai Samvidhan".

In his resignation letter to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, he charged that the party was itself violating the Constitution it professed to defend.

At the heart of his grievance was the unchecked influence of M Sanjay Kumar, BRS MLA from Jagtial who had switched allegiances, over the party's internal affairs in Telangana.

Reddy said he had endured 20 months of deliberate sidelining at the hands of his political rival and called on the party leadership to acknowledge the contradiction between its constitutional rhetoric and its conduct on the ground.

Announcing his resignation at a meeting with his followers on Wednesday, the six-time MLA, a Congress stalwart with nearly four decades in the party declared that he would henceforth take on Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy directly.

He also criticised Revanth Reddy's policy of encouraging defections from the BRS, arguing it was unnecessary given that Congress already commands a majority in the Assembly.

A six time MLA and was also a minister in the YS Rajasekhara Reddy cabinet, Jeevan Reddy had for some time been airing veiled reservations about Revanth Reddy's style of functioning.

Last-ditch efforts by the AICC leadership over the past few days to persuade him to stay failed to produce any positive outcome. Reddy had lost to BRS leader Sanjay Kumar in the 2023 Assembly elections.

Speaking at Wednesday's meeting, he said the lack of recognition within the party had made his decision inevitable, adding that it was better to step aside than remain in an environment where his self-respect was compromised.