Telangana Congress PCC Chief Race Heats Up With New Contenders

Hyderabad: The selection of new Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president is becoming increasingly open-ended, with new names and caste equations cropping up for the top party post in the state.

The latest deliberations at the level of the Central leadership, according to sources, explored the possibility of elevating a Dalit community leader as TPCC chief. The names of former MLA S.A. Sampath and Nagarkurnool MP Mallu Ravi were doing the rounds in the event of the high command picking Dalit PCC chief.

The camp of Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka also argued that his name could be considered on the basis of the Karnataka model where D.K. Shivakumar has been holding the posts of Deputy Chief Minister and PCC president.

“In the wake of categorisation of Scheduled Castes and the BJP trying to steal the limelight, we need to redraw our strategy and retain the party’s hold on the Scheduled Castes communities,” a senior leader said. The Congress won 14 out of 19 Assembly constituencies reserved for the SCs and nine out of 12 reserved for the Scheduled Tribes communities in last year’s state polls.

Party sources also said that there was a tussle between two powerful groups over selection of the PCC chief. At a time when the candidature of party working president B. Mahesh Goud appeared almost certain, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s camp was said to have raised objections.

Deputy CM Bhatti, sources said, continued to rally behind Goud.

A few days later, amidst reports that the party high command was considering a tribal leader to take the reins, the Chief Minister is said to have suggested two names – minister D. Anasuya Seethakka and Mahbubabad MP Balaram Naik. Both are on good terms with the Chief Minister.

In the event of a SC community leader becoming PCC president, Sampath and Ravi, whose chances are bright, are confidants of Revanth Reddy.