Congress sources in Delhi say that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi does not trust Chief Minister Revanth at all, as he strongly believes that he was instrumental in the defeat of party candidates in the last parliamentary elections and that he indirectly contributed to the victory of the BJP. The Congress had set a target of winning at least 15 of the 17 parliamentary seats in Telangana.
For this, party sources say that it had brought in election strategist Sunil Kanugolu to study the actual situation on the ground. It is reported that private survey companies commissioned by the party internally also gave reports that the Congress has a good chance of winning in about 15 seats.
However, the Congress high command has come to an assessment that the reason behind the party getting only 8 seats in Telangana is the collusion of its own party leaders with the BJP. Rahul believes that Revanth Reddy secretly contributed to the NDA’s victory in AP, even while the party was blindsided, and sufficient evidence has also reached him in both Telugu states.
It is reported that Rahul distanced Revanth only after conducting a post-mortem on various aspects, and the top leader has repeatedly commented to his close friends that he is ‘not a trustworthy person’. It is because of Revanth that the Congress has lost a strong number of MPs in both Telangana and AP, and at the same time, he is commenting to his close friends that the rise of the NDA alliance has been one of the reasons for the party’s loss of power at the Center.
“Rahul believes that Revanth changed Congress tickets for BJP candidates, and that he indirectly supported the BJP by fielding weak leaders as candidates in many places where he should have won. The Congress leadership has come to the notice of the Chief Minister’s frequent flirtations with BJP state and central leaders and excessive closeness with central government officials on various occasions. That is why Rahul sees Revanth as a BJP supporter. He has repeatedly said that he is not a member of our party,” said a key leader with close ties to the Congress high command.