Congress oldies reinvent themselves

Hyderabad, Nov 19: Many "retired" leaders of the Congress who had gone out of circulation are trying to breathe new life into their political careers these days. It is the new political parties on the block that are tempting them to reinvent themselves. When the senior leader, Mr P. Shiva Sankar, recently submitted his ‘resignation,’ to the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, the leadership was utterly confused. Nobody was sure whether he was in the party or whether he had actually quit sometime ago.

The veteran had gone into hibernation after he was denied a party ticket in 2004 and there were media reports that he had quit the party. There were even reports that he had met the then Chief Minister and Telugu Desam president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, seeking the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat. But nothing came of it and Mr Shiva Sankar disappeared from the scene. Suddenly after four years, he emerged again and has again dashed off a letter to the Congress president announcing his resignation.

The leadership was puzzled on what to do with the letter and even Mr Veerappa Moily, who is in charge of state party affairs, fumbled when asked whether Mr Shiva Shankar was still a member of the party. Same is the case with Mr Upendra, a former MP. The Vijayawada Lok Sabha seat, which he represented twice, was given to his son in-law Mr Lagadapati Rajagopal, and Mr Upendra gave up active politics after 2004.

All of a sudden, he has also written to Mrs Gandhi announcing his ‘resignation’ in protest against the ‘sale’ of Assembly tickets. As in the case of Mr Shiva Shankar, nobody knows whether Mr Upendra was in or out. Some district leaders, who had all but disappeared from the scene, have also quit the party after issuing profound statements.

All of them have now joined the Praja Rajyam party, which has been welcoming them as ‘veterans’. Much to the distress of the Congress, their ‘exit’ from the party is also becoming big news in the local media."These people have no significance but television channels are giving them too much importance," said a Congress leader.