Telangana: Hunt on for next state Congress president

Hyderabad: All eyes are on who will be the next Congress chief in Telangana -- a state where the Congress is in power -- as first week of July marks the end of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy's tenure as Telangana Congress chief.

Congress central leadership is said to have launched an exercise to build consensus on the next president of the state unit. Telangana is a key state in South India after Karnataka for Congress, where it would want to continue its stranglehold while the resurgent BJP is throwing a challenge.

In this scenario, Congress is cautiously weighing several options to pick someone who can spearhead the party in Telangana.

Since a Reddy is the chief minister, sources in the state unit indicated that a person from backward class may be appointed as the chief of the state unit.

For the past three days, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has been camping in Delhi and meeting senior leaders of the party, including Sonia Gandhi.

Interestingly, Sonia Gandhi had also met other senior leaders of the party from Telangana, like irrigation minister Capt Uttam Kumar Reddy. In fact, the central leadership had summoned a few leaders to Delhi to discuss the next state chief.

Speaking to the presspersons in Delhi on Thursday, Revanth Reddy said, "Since my tenure as PCC chief is going to end soon, I requested the central leadership pick the new leader for the position. I don't have any specific choice, but I will work in coordination with whoever the central leadership picks as the new PCC chief."

It is learnt that the Congress high command is also seeking a candidate who can collaborate effectively with Revanth Reddy and enhance coordination between the party and the government.

Congress had witnessed its best performance and strike rate during Revanth Reddy's tenure as PCC chief. He had taken up the party reins in 2021 and steered Congress to victory after Telangana was formed 10 years ago. Though the Congress-led UPA had carved out Telangana, it was BRS that took the credit and was in power for two terms.

Congress had come to power in the last year's assembly elections and also improved its tally from the state in the Lok Sabha from just three to eight.