Digvijay Singh, All India Congress Committee general secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh affairs, had a taste of the feuding among the Congress parliamentarians on the Telangana issue when the supporters of Siddipet parliamentarian Sarvey Satyanarayana and Vijayawada parliamentarian Lagadapati Rajagopal crossed swords at the Lake Guest House on Wednesday.
The parliamentarians had come to the venue along with their supporters to call on Digvijay Singh, who arrived in Hyderabad on Wednesday morning. Mild tension prevailed when activists of the rival groups raised full-throated slogans in favour of their respective leaders even as police personnel kept a close watch on the situation.
Satyanarayana told media persons that he had demanded the expulsion of Rajagopal for working against the party and violating its discipline.
"He has insulted and humiliated Dalits and other weaker sections as well as the people of Telangana
by making comments against me. He brought his supporters, who are mostly the employees of Lanco Group of Industries run by him. He has no business to belittle us and insult us. We will definitely teach him a lesson. I am asking not merely for his suspension but expulsion from the party," he said.
Rajagopal also asserted that there was no question of tendering apology to anyone.
"I will not apologise. I did not say anything against anyone. I did not make any remarks against Dalits, or a particular individual or region. I only criticized those Congress leaders who were belittling the Congress and its top leaders president Sonia Gandhi and state Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy -- and praising Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader K Chandrasekhar Rao," he added.
Later, Digvijay Singh proceeded to Gandhi Bhavan for an emergent extended PCC and Congress Legislature Party meeting to sort out the intra-party feuds on the Telangana issue.