Telangana Congress leaders pin hopes on landing plum AICC posts

HYDERABAD: After the first round of “success” after Manickam Tagore was eased out as Telangana in-charge, Congress seniors are now trying to land plum positions in the party at the national level.
As most of the seniors are well-known to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, they want to leverage their proximity with him to spring back into the limelight.

As there is word going around that Kharge is likely to reshuffle the party apparatus in about a month’s time, Telangana seniors hope to squeeze themselves in, one way or the other. The seniors have been making the rounds of the AICC headquarters in Delhi to refresh their old ties with Kharge since the days of the 90s and earlier when they were in key positions in the party.

For instance, Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy, after he stepped down as TPCC president has been without a party post. He is expecting to be appointed as one of the general secretaries of the party and if everything goes well, he might even become in-charge of a state.

Veteran warhorse V Hanumantha Rao is also eyeing a position in the AICC. Since he shares a special bond with Kharge when he was a Rajya Sabha member during which time he served as OBC MPS convenor, he hopes to land the post of chairman of the OBC department.

Then, former PCC chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah is there, expecting the post of either AICC general secretary or secretary. He has also been visiting Delhi frequently, trying to prevail upon Kharge. Ponnam Prabhakar, former MP from Karimnagar, who fought valiantly in the Lok Sabha on the day the State bifurcation bill was presented on February 13, 2014, is expecting an AICC secretary position.

According to AICC sources, though there were three BC leaders vying for a key post in AICC, only or at the most two would be accommodated. Several leaders of Telangana Congress feel that the party might accommodate a good number of leaders in the committee due to Assembly elections scheduled later this year in the state. The sources said, two or three SC/ST leaders also might be taken in. Party sources said there is ample chance for former Minister of State Balaram Naik or former deputy chief minister Damodar Raja Narismha to find a place in the national committee.