Telangana Congress leaders book rooms for Karnataka MLAs as marriage party

In a midnight operation that put the top functionaries of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) leaders managerial skills to ultimate test, the party’s central leadership issued a diktat to arrange accommodation for the newly elected party legislators from Karnataka on war footing.

With clear instructions that the entire exercise should be a closely guarded affair, the TPCC leaders led by president N.Uttam Kumar Reddy had to literally get their act together to accomplish the biggest task of their careers.

Top TPCC sources said a call from the AICC around midnight asking Mr. Reddy to be ready to host over 100 MLAs for a couple of days literally caught them off guard. “We are planning to bring the MLAs to Hyderabad, be prepared to make all arrangements without any difficulty,” is what the AICC leader told the TPCC leaders.

The TPCC leaders had just finished their public meeting in Mancherial about 300 kms from Hyderabad on Thursday night and were preparing to retire for the night when the call literally threw them off balance. Sources said Mr. Reddy, on getting the specific direction, spoke to half a dozen close confidantes in Hyderabad and asked them to scout for suitable accommodation.

“They wanted 100 rooms and it was a herculean task to arrange so many rooms at that unearthly hour. We tried to book resorts on the outskirts but were told that they were full. We then zeroed in on Park Hyatt but there too the rooms were not enough. We then sent one of senior leader to Taj Krishna and woke up the top managers asking them to book 100 rooms for a marriage party. A cash depost of ₹ 12 lakh was made towards the rooms and food,” a senior Congress leader involved in the arrangements told The Hindu on condition of anonymity on Friday.

Once the accommodation was confirmed two senior leaders — A.Maheshwar Reddy, Nirmal District Congress Committee chief and T.Jayaprakash Reddyalias Jagga Reddy, former Congress Whip were deputed to receive the Karnataka MLAs travelling by four buses near Jadcherla this morning.

While there were over 66 MLAs travelling in the buses, the Congress leadership in Karnataka ensured that two decoy buses were also included in the convoy so that their travel plans did not go awry.

Finally, the Karnataka legislators accompanied by other senior leaders from Karnataka began arriving at Taj Krishna.

“As soon as the first luxury bus entered Taj Krishna, the hotel managers were shocked to see the politicians from Karnataka. They were worried about the safety of the hotel,” another Congress leader said.