TPCC to be Sized Down

Hyderabad: The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) is gearing up for a significant restructuring as the party looks to bolster its position ahead of the crucial rural and urban local body elections early next year, party sources said.

The revamp will focus on trimming the Pradesh executive committee (PEC) and the political affairs committee (PAC), reducing the number of members from the previous 165 to just 30 or 40. This move is aimed at streamlining operations and enhancing the party’s effectiveness, sources added.

Although MLC B. Mahesh Kumar Goud was elected as the new TPCC president on September 5 by the AICC, a revamp of its leadership structure remains pending.

The last overhaul of the PEC and PAC occurred in December 2022, when Congress was in the opposition. At that time, the party’s high command formed large committees, ensuring all senior leaders and castes were represented, to stop defections to the BRS and BJP.

The PEC had 40 members and the PAC 17, while 165 leaders were accommodated in various roles, including 24 vice presidents, 84 general secretaries, and 26 district presidents.

As many leaders now hold key positions like ministers, MLAs, MLCs, MPs and chairpersons of state-run corporations, the party leadership is opting for a leaner TPCC structure, with focus on efficiency and electoral success.

The restructured committees will face their first major test in the upcoming local body elections slated for early 2025, which include gram panchayats, mandal and zilla parishads, municipalities, and municipal corporations. The GHMC elections, scheduled for March 2026, and the MLC elections in 2025 will also be pivotal for the party as it seeks to assert its dominance and build momentum for the 2028 Assembly elections.