After the resignation of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy post GHMC poll results, the focus has shifted on who will succeed him, but the answer may come after a month and not immediately.
But unlike in the past, the process may start early now to face the Nagarjunasagar by-poll that is expected to be conducted in a few months. The resignation of Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy has been pending with the AICC for a year now so the process for finding the new chief will also begin immediately.
AICC in-charge for Telangana Manickam Tagore will be in the city from December 8 to begin the process of wider consultation with senior leaders and groups to elicit their opinion. He is likely to meet around 100 leaders, including those from the districts and frontal organisations apart from the seniors.
Mr. Tagore will spend three to four days and have a one-on-one conversation with the identified leaders than as a group, as the idea is to get a fair and fearless opinion. He will then submit a report to AICC president Sonia Gandhi, who will take the final call. The report will take into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of each individual and their ability to spur party’s growth and cadre confidence.
Sources said though the effort is to complete the process within three to four weeks, the final announcement depends on Ms. Gandhi’s time. “So we can’t say when exactly the decision would be made,” a senior leader in the high command told The Hindu .
The AICC in-charge is also likely to elicit opinion on the Campaign Committee chairman, which has assumed greater importance after Mr. Rahul Gandhi took over as the president. The position will be on a par with the PCC chief.
Though several names are doing the rounds, the strong contenders within the party include TPCC working president A. Revanth Reddy, Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkata Reddy, CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka and Manthani MLA D. Sreedhar Babu.
However, seniors like Sangareddy MLA T. Jayaprakash Reddy, AICC secretary Madhu Yashki and TPCC working president Ponnam Prabhakar too, have expressed their desire to lead the party citing seniority, experience and the will to take on the government.
The cadre, however, expect a leader who has mass following when the BJP is steadfastly eating into the vote base of the Congress occupying the opposition space as was evident in the Dubbak by-poll and the GHMC elections.
The aggression of the new leader has to match with that of the BJP if the party has to be rejuvenated is the opinion of the grass-root level cadre. Social engineering is another angle the party will seriously consider while picking the new chief. If that is the case there will be a churning of the present posts of senior leaders.
