Meenakshi Natarajan has a tough path to tread in Telangana

Meenakshi Natarajan has a tough path to tread in Telangana

Hyderabad

Telangana Congress has seen three changes in the AICC in-charge of the State unit since it came to power in December 2023 with the latest being Meenakshi Natarajan.

A former MP from Madhya Pradesh, Ms. Natarajan replaces Deepa Dasmunsi, who was appointed after the surprise change effected by removal of senior Maharashtra Congressman Manikrao Thakre, who played a key role in ensuring Congress’ win in 2023 after a decade.

Ms. Natarajan comes at a time when the Congress party is facing relentless attack from the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) despite implementing some of the promised schemes and also taking up the caste survey of the Backward Classes, the first State to do so.

But the government has been pushed on the back foot with the Opposition picking up loopholes in the implementation of the schemes or the caste survey, and the party and the government failing to retaliate with the same intensity.

The lack of effort from party leaders, MLAs, Ministers and those who matter in the government is clearly visible and the coordination in paying back the Opposition’s criticism is almost nil. The social media wing of the party is a poor reflection of the saga as the BRS continues its attack.

Ms. Natarajan has a huge task ahead with these mounting challenges continuing to show the government’s work on the negative side. “We came up with the best farm loan waiver package by any State in India but that doesn’t reflect on the ground as we did not take them to people. Similar is the situation with all the other schemes that are much better implemented than the BRS government,” rues a senior leader blaming non-seriousness among Ministers and MLAs.