Leaders vie for DCC chief posts

Warangal: With the message loud and clear from the AICC President Rahul Gandhi for the constitution of separate District Congress Committees (DCCs) for all the new districts, the aspirants from all five districts split out of the erstwhile Warangal and the soon-to-be-formed Mulugu district have intensified their lobbying for the DCC chief posts.

Although it’s been more than two years since the reorganisation of districts, the Congress hasn’t taken the exercise of expanding DCCs to all the districts; instead it continued the old format.

Against the recent drubbing in the hands of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in the elections to Assembly, the Congress wants to regain its lost glory by putting up a spirited performance in the Lok Sabha elections that were not too far away. It may be recalled here that Congress had won just two of the 12 seats, Seethakka from Mulugu and Gandra Venkataramana Reddy from Bhupalpally, in the erstwhile district.

In the run up to upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has now begun to decentralise the responsibilities to its leaders new districts-wise – Warangal Urban, Rural, Jayashankar-Bhupalpally, Jangaon and Mahabubabad. With the State government also notifying to carve out Mulugu district from the existing Jayashankar-Bhupalpally recently, the aspirants are also leaving no stone unturned to get the DCC post of the new district.

The party leadership also believes that the constitution of new DCCs is also to help in coordinating cadres in the ongoing Panchayat polls. So far, senior leader N Rajender Reddy has been at the helm of affairs of the erstwhile Warangal district since April 2014. He was appointed as the DCC president just before the 2014 general elections following the resignation of Donthi Madhava Reddy.

Now, even though it’s touted that N Rajender Reddy will be retained as the DCC president of Warangal Urban district, it’s learnt that Vem Narender Reddy and Namindla Srinivas are also vying for the post. Enugala Venkat Ram Reddy is the strong contender for the Warangal Rural district.

Konda couple – Muralidhar Rao and Surekha – who returned to the party-fold just before the Assembly elections - would also like to have their man for the post.

It almost appears certain that Jyothy, wife of Gandra Venkataramana Reddy, will be the DCC chief of Jayashankar-Bhupalpally district. On the other hand, Jennareddy Bharat Chandra Reddy seems to be a certainty to head the party in Mahabubabad. In fact, the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) had announced his name soon after the creation of Mahabubabad district; however, it is yet to be ratified by the AICC.

Senior leader Janga Raghava Reddy, who unsuccessfully contested from Palakurthy, seems to be ahead of others to take over the reins of Jangaon district. Speaking to The Hans India, a senior Congress leader said: “Actually, the proposal for the appointing DCC chiefs for all new districts came to fore some six months ago when the party brought forward the slogan of ‘One Man One Post’ ahead of elections.

However, the proposal didn’t materialise. Now, the party leadership is serious over the matter and it likely to appoint DCC chiefs for all districts.”
In case of Mulugu district, which is expected to be operationalised in the near future, there are quite a few contenders for the DCC president post.

Former Market Committee chairman Malladi Ram Reddy, who has the support of Podem Veeraiah (Bhadrachalam MLA-elect), Advocate M Vinay Kumar and V Saraiah (both said to be Seethakka’s supporters), are trying hard for the post, according to party sources.