No change of guard in TPCC; Uttam to stay put

Hyderabad: The Congress High Command has put to rest all the speculations on the change of guard in the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) and dropped enough hints in this regard to the leaders of the State unit who have been demanding an alternative to the incumbent.

In a recent meeting in New Delhi, All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Rahul Gandhi told the party leaders that there was no plan of changing TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy and he would continue to hold the office.

This has brought the curtains down on all speculations being made in the Telangana Congress for a few weeks about the change of PCC president. It has also watered down hopes of leaders who want to become the TPCC chief.

A senior Congress leader said there would be no change of PCC president and Uttam Kumar Reddy would continue to hold the post. He might lead the next elections, he said.

The leader said compliments of Rahul Gandhi to Uttam Kumar Reddy on the Bus Yatra and his offer to participate in it were indications of the mood of the High Command.

For a few months, some leaders of the party have begun efforts to secure the PCC president post by lodging complaints against Uttam Kumar Reddy and against party in-charge in the State RC Khuntia.

Whenever they had an opportunity, these leaders told the AICC that Uttam Kumar Reddy had been adopting a unilateral attitude and was unable to bring all the leaders on one platform.

The attitude of the PCC president had been damaging the coordination among party leaders and causing damage to the interests of the party in the State, they alleged. The main complaint of these leaders is that whenever a major decision is taken, the PCC president is not consulting them.

They were not invited to important events and had been informed through SMS about the programmes, they said. The office bearers of the TPCC did not even have the courtesy to call them on phone at least to inform about the programmes, they reportedly said. This was an insult to them, they felt.

These leaders have been keeping away from the programmes of the party including the Bus Yatra for a few months. Some of them have not been visiting the Gandhi Bhavan at least once in months.

They submitted their complaints to party in-charge RC Khuntia and with no result, they forwarded them to the High Command. As there was no change in the circumstances, they mounted pressure on the High Command for change of the PCC president.