Hyderabad : Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Chairman, Shaik Abdullah Sohail, has sent shockwaves through the political landscape by tendering his resignation from the Congress party after a dedicated 34-year-long association. Sohail made this momentous announcement during a press conference at the Hyderabad Press Club, accompanied by a detailed letter addressed to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) President, Mallikarjun Kharge, outlining the reasons for his departure.
In his heartfelt letter, Sohail expressed profound disappointment with the current state of the party, particularly under the leadership of the present TPCC President, A Revanth Reddy. He accused Reddy of corrupt practices, including the alleged sale of party positions and assembly tickets, as well as a departure from the party’s core secular principles and values.
Sohail reflected on his long journey within the Congress, recounting his rise from a Booth Committee president to the State Chairman of the Minorities Dept and his numerous contributions and sacrifices for the party. He bitterly noted recent trends in ticket allocations, alleging that genuine, hardworking party leaders were sidelined in favor of wealthy newcomers with no history of grassroots work.
He made a startling revelation, stating, “In the name of political strategist Sunil Konugula, a big scam was made in the name of conducting surveys. We came across several aspirants who’ve paid crores of rupees to some close associates of Revanth Reddy on the promise that their names will be included in the ‘surveys’ of Sunil Konugulu. This entire scam was weaved right under the shed of AICC Headquarters.”
Sohail continued to raise questions, asking, “The ticket was denied to former MLA P. Vishnuvardhan Reddy from the Jubilee Hills seat on the pretext that his sister P. Vijaya Reddy was being given a ticket from the Khairtabad constituency. The logic was not more than one ticket would be given in a family. In that case, why were tickets given to Mynampalli Hanumanth Rao and his son Rohit Rao? This father-son duo joined the Congress from the BRS party only this month. Why was the one-ticket-per-family logic not applied here? Is it because they offered a big land deal to Revanth Reddy and his men, and Vishnuvardhan Reddy, as a true Congress worker, does not indulge in such dirty things?”
Accusing the Congress High Command of turning a blind eye to the transformation of the party’s headquarters into a “shopping mall,” Sohail claimed a blatant violation of the party’s core values and principles of secularism and social justice.
He further added, “The entry of Revanth Reddy as the TPCC President in June 2021 completely changed everything. He turned the Congress party into a grocery shop where people with heavy wallets could walk in and purchase any post. Today, a majority of people who hold top positions in the party never worked on the ground, never participated in any agitation, and never faced arrest. They entered the Gandhi Bhavan in their Mercedez, received a red carpet welcome, paid a certain amount, and purchased a top position. Unfortunately, the Congress High Command, which boasts of a huge organizational network and an active vigilance mechanism, did not realize that the party headquarters Gandhi Bhavan has been turned into a shopping mall.”
Sohail criticized the alleged communalization of the Congress Party in Telangana, warning of a potential mass defection to the BJP, led by Revanth Reddy, following the upcoming elections. He drew parallels with historical precedents where Congress leaders with RSS backgrounds caused significant ideological shifts.
With deep regret, Shaik Abdullah Sohail concluded that the Congress party he served passionately for over three decades had strayed far from its founding ideals. Expressing his inability to continue under an RSS-affiliated leadership, Sohail declared his resignation from his post and the primary membership of the Congress party.
