Telangana: Parties to go in for BC, SC men as state chiefs

The BJP national leadership is also actively considering a BC leader to head their state unit as the successor to G. Kishan Reddy. The main opposition BRS is likely to elevate dalit leader and former IPS officer R.S. Praveen Kumar as the party's working president in place of or along with K.T. Rama Rao.

After the formation of Telangana state in 2014, the TPCC has been headed by a BC leader only once. Former minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah was appointed as TPCC chief in March 2014 soon after the Parliament passed the AP Reorganisation Act 2014 in February for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and formation of Telangana state. However, Lakshmaiah continued as TPCC chief for only a year until March 2015. Since then, the post has been held by a Reddy leader.

Senior leader N. Uttam Kumar Reddy was appointed to the post soon after Lakshmaiah's exit in March 2015. Uttam continued in the post for over six years until July 2021 and holds the record of being the longest serving TPCC chief.

After his exit, the party high command appointed Revanth Reddy in July 2021. His three-year tenure will come to an end on July 7.

With a BC leader holding the TPCC chief post only for a year since 2014, there is a strong demand from BC, SC and ST leaders to give them an opportunity this time. However, the buzz in party circles is that the party high command is considering a BC leader for the TPCC chief with B. Mahesh Kumar Goud and M. Anjan Kumar Yadav reportedly being the frontrunners. From the SC community, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and health minister Damodar Rajanarasimha are in the race while ST leader Danasari Anasuya (Seethakka) is also trying her luck.
After losing power in the Assembly elections and failing to win a single seat in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the BRS is looking for a total revamp of the party. There is a growing demand within the party to revamp the party's organisational structure by appointing leaders from BC, SC and ST sections in key positions. Party circles argue that K.T. Rama Rao has totally failed as the party's working president and the party suffered its worst electoral defeats after Rama Rao took over as working president in December 2018.

Under Rama Rao's leadership, the BRS tally in the Lok Sabha fell from 11 in 2014 to nine in 2019 apart from losing Dubbak and Huzurabad by-polls to BJP. The BRS tally in GHMC elections also came down from 99 in 2015 to 55 in 2020, while BJP's tally increased from four in 2015 to 48 in 2020. The BRS also lost power during Rama Rao's tenure as its strength in the Assembly crashed from 103 to 39.

BRS chief K. Chandrashekar Rao is planning to hold the party's extended meeting in July first week to totally revamp the party and revive its fortunes. He is reportedly considering Praveen Kumar as the party's working president. However, there is no clarity whether Rama Rao will remain the working president alongside Praveen Kumar. It is also learnt that K. Chandrashekar Rao wants to accommodate leaders from BC, SC and ST sections in key party positions to reach out to subaltern sections and change the image of BRS being a 'family party' or 'upper castes' party.
As far as the BJP is concerned, Kishan Reddy was made BJP Telangana president twice since 2014. In his first term, he was in the post from June 2014 to April 2016. He again assumed charge as the state president last July and will complete one year on July 4.

The party's BC leaders Dr K. Laxman and Bandi Sanjay Kumar have served for over three years each. There is a growing demand in the party to appoint a BC as state president after Kishan Reddy's exit.

In keeping with this, the BJP national leadership is reportedly considering to appoint Malkajgiri MP Etala Rajendar as their new state president.