HYDERABAD: The equations for the appointment of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) would drastically change if Kunduru Jana Reddy wins the Nagarjuna Sagar byelection. The Congress would have appointed either MLC T Jeevan Reddy or MP A Revanth Reddy for the TPCC chief’s post if there was no byelection scheduled. Outgoing chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy wants a leader from his native Nalgonda district to retain the post, as the party has strong cadres and leaders from the erstwhile district.
The Bhongir MP and former Nalgonda MLA Komatireddy Venkat Reddy is also trying hard to bag the coveted post. In case Jana Reddy, a former Minister and CLP leader, wins the byelection, the Congress party would be compelled to give a significant post to him. In the current political scenario, Congress would not invite criticism by removing Bhatti Vikramarka, a leader from the Dalit community, from his CLP leader post to nominate Jana Reddy. Incidentally, the party is finding it difficult to select the TPCC president as there are multiple aspirants who would take extreme steps if not given the post.
Thus, Jana Reddy, a “spotless leader,” would be one of the safe options before the party high command. There would not be much opposition within the party, and it would not split into different factions if he was given the post, a Congress leader speculated. Meanwhile, Jana Reddy has been campaigning all by himself without seeking any help from the party. It may be recalled that during the Dubbaka byelection, though they didn’t have a strong leader until Cheruku Srinivas Reddy joined them, they had invested all of their strengths by assigning each mandal and village to a leader.