more-in TRS senior leader A.S. Posetty’s statement on “injustice” being meted out to Telangana agitators who have carried forward the movement, braving baton blows and police repression since the beginning, suggest that dissent is brewing in the party’s district unit. He said genuine agitators, who stood like a rock behind the party’s leadership, are left with no option but to make a public appeal to the party president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao not to neglect them and “to do justice”. He held a meeting in the name of “Atmeeya Sammelanam” on Sunday with his well-wishers and agitators from across the undivided district turning up and passing a unanimous resolution urging the leadership not to give up the old guard who worked hard in every election for the party. Efforts of some party leaders to convince him to cancel the meeting did not work. Addressing the gathering, Mr. Posetty said he was neglected by the party leadership even though he served as TRS district president for 13 years. “I lost my personal property worth lakhs for the agitation and also for the party. However, I was kept aside after the formation of Telangana,” he rued. On the occasion, the criticism he made against local MLA Bigala Ganesh Gupta on the selection of candidate for market committee chairman post drew flak from Mr. Gupta’s supporters, who accused Mr. Posetty of “mud-slinging” to tarnish the MLA’s image. Challenging them, Mr. Posetty said if his allegation about Mr. Gupta demanding ?50 lakh for the post was wrong, he would quit politics and serve the MLA for life. At a press conference on Tuesday, he alleged the post was given to a woman whose husband, a TDP member, had beaten up Telangana people. Asked to respond to the comment, Mr. Gupta said: “I have respect for Posetty as he is a senior leader but unfortunately he is talking out of frustration. People are well aware of who is meeting him. They are behind him and he is talking at their behest. My work in the city speaks volumes about my sincerity.” The ‘meeting’ that Mr. Gupta is referring to could have something to do with newspaper reports of BJP State executive committee members Dharmapuri Aravind and Baswa Laxminarsaiah meeting Mr. Posetty at his residence yesterday.

Stay updated with all the Hyderabad Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.