Congress to focus on Telangana after Karnataka elections

Hyderabad: In view of the coming elections, ensuring social justice within the pa-rty posts had become a major concern to the Congress High Command.

As of now, two important posts, that of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader K. Jana Reddy, belong to the same caste and district, and the party has very few replacements for the post from socially weaker sections.

Sampath Kumar, a first time MLA from Alampur Assembly constituency, belongs to SC Madiga, but with so many senior MLAs in the Congress, it is not possible to elevate him to the post of CLP leader. Senior MLA Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka belongs to SC Mala. 

In Telangana, the population of the Madiga community is larger than that of the Mala community. Mr Vikramarka was appointed as TPCC working president.

The problem facing the TPCC is that it can’t find a leader in its ranks from the Madiga community as a possible replacement for its current president. Nandi Yellaiah, Nagarkurnool MP, is not active because of his age, and the party also prefers to opt for younger leaders for future posts. 

Damodar Raja Narasimha, former deputy chief minister was defeated in the previous elections. In the present circumstances, changing the TPCC president or CLP leader is not possible, said a senior Congress leader.

After the elections in Karntaka, the Congress high command will shift its focus to the affairs of the TPCC. The high command is likely to appoint a campaign committee, coordination committee, manifesto committee and core committee. The party is expected to give preference to leaders from weaker sections, particularly the Madiga community and the north Telangana region. 

It is anticipated that V. Hanumantha Rao, Surve Satyanarayana, Madhu Yakshi Goud, Ponnala Laxmaiah and one or two other leaders are likely to get posts in the AICC.