Bypoll for Nagarjunasagar may delay naming of new PCC chief

Hyderabad: The AICC announcement of a new Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president appears to be delayed in view of the byelection to the Nagarjunasagar constituency in combined Nalgonda district.

After reports said the AICC was likely to do, various quarters have told the AICC to hold back the name for a while as it would ruffle feathers and create a rift in the party ahead of the byelection. The Nagarjunasagar seat fell vacant with the demise of sitting MLA Nomula Narasimhaiah.

Sources in the party said that during a meeting between AICC in-charge Manickam Tagore and AICC chief Sonia Gandhi on Monday, the name of the new president was almost finalised. But some seniors in the state Congress contacted AICC leaders and requested for a withholding of an official announcement.

Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy was in the race for the post, but the AICC reportedly favoured candidature of senior leader T, Jeevan Reddy. Venkat Reddy and his brother Rajagopal Reddy have a strong grip over politics in the combined Nalgonda district. They are capable of upsetting the Congress applecart.

Senior leaders from Nalgonda district informed the AICC that the Komatireddy brothers may be upset if Jeevan Reddy is selected, and this resentment could impact the Nagarjuna Sagar byelection.

Senior Congress leader K. Jana Reddy is likely to contest from Nagarjunasagar. He was reluctant, but the AICC in-charge, in his recent meeting with Jana Reddy, prevailed on him to contest. Jana Reddy lost the election in 2018 against TRS candidate Nomula Narasimhaiah with around 7,000 votes. The Ruling TRS is also of the opinion that Jana Reddy might now have an edge if he fought the byelection.

Congress senior leaders who are in touch with the AICC are said to have informed the AICC that, in this backdrop, any aberration among Congress leaders in Nalgonda district will impact the winning chances of the party.