Digvijay relieved of T-Congress charge

R.C. Kuntia given responsibility of Telangana affairs

After being relieved from charge of Congress affairs in Goa and Karnataka last April, AICC president Sonia Gandhi has relieved AICC general-secretary Digvijay Singh of the party's Telangana state affairs too.

R.C. Kuntia, who has been in charge of Congress affairs in his capacity as AICC secretary, has been asked to take charge of the TCongress affairs.

A brief communique from the AICC headquarters on Tuesday said: "Congress president Sonia Gandhi has approved a new AICC team to look after party affairs in Telangana. R.C. Kuntia has been appointed in-charge of Telangana affairs."

However, party sources said Mr Kuntia's appointment is stop-gap; to fill the vacuum for the next few months as major changes are expected once the organisational elections in the party are completed by October this year.

Mr Singh's abrupt removal as T-Congress in-charge has, as expected, led to several theories floating around. He had been holding the post since 2013.

While his ineffectiveness in dealing with party affairs in TS, especially his failure to take action against veteran leader Komatireddy Venkata Reddy and his brother Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy who developed differences with N. Uttam Kumar Reddy ever since he was made PCC president, is said to have led to Mr Singh's exit.

Besides, Mr Singh failed to take disciplinary action against Mr Rajagopal Reddy for his attack on Guduru Narayana Reddy that took place in the Gandhi Bhavan in his presence.

He also failed to lead the party to fight for various issues like the Miyapur land scam. Mr Singh's attempts to rope in TD working president A. Revanth Reddy into the Congress fold also did not go well.

He was also accused of failing to capitalise on the positive response that AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi received in last month's Sangareddy public meeting.

The other theory going around is that Mr Singh himself sought to be relieved from party responsibilities in Goa, Karnataka, TS and AP, citing personal reasons as well as his proposed padayatra in his native state of Madhya Pradesh.

Though he was accused of not taking enough steps to form the government in Goa in his capacity of the party in-charge in the state, sources said when Mr Singh tried to convey the 'list of demands' particularly on arranging finances by some of the independent MLAs and groups, both Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Mr Rahul Gandhi did not respond to it.