Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy met the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, in Delhi. The Chief Minister posted on social media that he had the honour of meeting Rahul Gandhi. “As ever, it is energising and inspiring to meet my leader, Shri Rahul Gandhiji.
I discussed issues relating to the development of Telangana with the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. And as always, his insightful feedback and direction will guide all of us,” wrote Revanth Reddy. The meeting assumes significance in the wake of development in the Congress party following rejection of party leader and in-charge for party affairs in Telangana, Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination for Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh.
The returning officer rejecting the resignation on the ground that she failed to mention in the affidavit a case pending in a Telangana High Court has triggered a row with BJP leaders in Madhya Pradesh, claiming that they received the documents relating to the case from a Congress leader in Telangana.
The party’s central leadership has taken serious note of the development and formed a committee to find out if there was any internal sabotage. The AICC has reportedly asked Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) to probe the allegations that papers related to the case were leaked by someone within the party.
Rahul Gandhi is reported to have taken a serious view of the incident, as Meenakshi Natarajan was his direct choice for the Rajya Sabha elections. In another development, AICC named Meenakshi Natarajan as one of the observers for Punjab. Meenakshi Natarajan is one of the seven respondents in a harassment case filed by a woman leader of the Congress against a party colleague in Hyderabad.
Last year, the Fourth Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court had sent a notice to Natarajan, directing her to appear before the court and file a counter, if any, to the private complaint filed by a woman. The court notice, served at the state Congress headquarters, Gandhi Bhavan, surfaced on social media after Natarajan’s nomination was rejected.
Meanwhile, the woman who had filed the private complaint against Congress leader Kumbham Shivkumar Reddy termed as sad rejection of Natarajan’s nomination. The former corporator also claimed that a personal assistant of a Congress party leader was in the court on June 6 to collect documents relating to the case.
She declined to name the party leader but said this can be verified by scanning the footage from CCTV cameras in the court premises. The complainant, who still claims to be in the party, had named Natarajan and six other Congress leaders as respondents for not taking any action against Shivkumar Reddy despite the allegations.
Natarajan and all the other Congress leaders, whom the corporator had named as respondents, filed counter-affidavits. Natarajan’s affidavit was prepared by her law firm, and it was submitted to the court in October last year, saying her name was added to it with malafide intent.