AICC sets ball rolling for selection of new PCC head

Hyderabad: After a long wait, the All India Congress Committee set the ball rolling for selection of the new PCC chief in Telangana.

Initiating the process, AICC general secretary RC Khuntia, who was in Hyderabad, begun collecting the opinions of the party leaders on the new leader of the State unit. He called several leaders over phone to elicit their opinion on the new PCC president. He will also meet leaders in person.

Several senior leaders including PCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, MP A Revanth Reddy and others met him on Wednesday and expressed their opinions. The meeting went on till late in the night.

Party MLA T Jagga Reddy and MP K Venkat Reddy and other leaders also met Khuntia on Wednesday and expressed their views. Khuntia was also busy on Thursday meeting with several leaders. According to sources, the incharge AICC general secretary took the opinions of former ministers, former MPs and former MLAs on the new president issue. He is likely to present his views to the AICC.

Though it has been told officially that Khuntia was in Hyderabad to take care of the arrangements for the party protest against reservations issue on February 16 at Dharna Chowk, he has been meeting the party leaders on the new PCC president issue in the guise of inviting them for the programme. The sources said that the AICC may discuss the incharge general secretary report in its Working Committee meeting.

Though it has been speculated the CWC would meet on February 14, sources in the party said that it may be postponed due to the Delhi poll results.

A senior leader of the party said that the Delhi poll results have led to controversies in the party and the AICC was not ready to hold any meeting in this week so that they did not precipitate.

However, the CWC has to meet any time in this month as it has been proposing to hold the plenary of the AICC. It has been speculated the plenary may be held in Chattisgarh or Punjab. The CWC also has to discuss appointing Rahul Gandhi as president of the party in the place of Sonia Gandhi who has been facing serious health issues.

On the other hand, PCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy has been exuding confidence that he may retain the post. He was critical of the reports in the media that he may be changed and an MP may be appointed in his place.