Cash for Post: Congress High Command looks for safe exit

The Congress High Command appears to have begun exercise to find a safe exit from the "Cash for Post" controversy.

According to sources, the Congress High Command took a serious note of the allegations levelled by party MLC Rajalingam against former PCC chief Dharampuri Srinivas stating that the latter offered him Rs 10 lakh for supporting his candidature for floor leader's post in the Telangana Legislative Council. Although the party's leadership remained tight-lipped on the issue, it began the process to unveil the truth behind the allegations. It has been decided to seek the views of all the MLCs who supported and also opposed the candidature of Srinivas on the issue. They will be asked whether they too were offered money.

"The party has reportedly begun an internal enquiry. Rajalingam's allegations were quite serious in nature. The party cannot afford to ignore the allegations leveled by a senior legislator," said a Congress MLC on the condition of anonymity. Further, he said that the Congress party could not even publicly acknowledge the allegations as it might hurt the party's image and the reputation of Srinivas who would be leading the party in the Legislative Council. Therefore, a safe route is being adopted to resolve the issue.

Sources say that if the allegations are proved against Srinivas, then he might be asked to step down from the post on his own citing personal reasons. "This issue will not remain inconclusive. Either Rajalingam will have to withdraw his allegations or Srinivas will have to step down. Now the Congress party's image is at stake. Any action against Srinivas will amount to confession of existence of corruption within the Congress party. However, stern action against Srinivas will send a strong message that Congress party will not tolerate corruption at any cost," said another Congress MLC adding that the Congress High Command will prefer the second option.