HYDERABAD: The appointment of new District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents, announced late on Saturday, has triggered unease within the ruling party, with senior leaders questioning the appointees’ grassroots connect and raising concerns over alleged nepotism in several selections.
While party top brass Rahul Gandhi’s idea behind the rigorous exercise of appointing new DCCs is to strengthen the party at grassroots, a senior leader pointed out that some of the fresh appointments may prove counterproductive, because the newly anointed leaders have little hold at the ground level.
A case in point was the appointment of Khalid Saifullah Syed, Chief Officer of the Professional Congress and a figure closely linked to Rahul Gandhi’s office, as Hyderabad DCC president. Speaking to TNIE on condition of anonymity, another senior Congress leader said that the party was violating its own rules and regulations in making the appointments.
He said the party had initially stated that only leaders with over five years of association with the party would be appointed as DCC presidents. However, leaders who joined during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were also handpicked. He added that other rules, such as restrictions on two posts in one family or two posts for one person, were also violated.
According to party sources, the Kamareddy and Asifabad district unit presidents donned Congress robes only recently, around two years ago. “In June 2025, Atram Suguna, Lakavath Dhanvanthi and Dr Chikkudu Vamshi Krishna were appointed as vice-presidents, while Vedma Bojju, Naresh Jadav, Nuthi Satyanarayana Goud, and M Rajeev Reddy were appointed as general secretaries. Again, the same people were appointed as DCC presidents — an additional responsibility on top of the posts they are already holding,” he said.
Another senior leader pointed out that Medak DCC president Thumkunta Narsa Reddy was replaced with his daughter, Thumkunta Anksha Reddy, who is currently the Telangana Youth Congress vice-president. He said that the Mahbubabad DCC president post was given to the wife of Mahbubabad MLA Bhukya Murali Naik. Three state-run corporation chairpersons were also given DCC president posts.
Incidentally, it is learnt that one of the corporation chairpersons who was given DCC president posts literally begged the party leadership not to give him the responsibility of DCC president. However, the party went ahead and appointed him in the post which he never wanted.
Another leader pointed out that the application procedure for the DCC presidents itself is a farce. He said that when the AICC observers toured the districts to collect applications, some of the ordinary people also filed applications thinking that they would get some or other benefit under six guarantees such as ration cards.
A section of senior leaders is extremely unhappy, as the party has given crucial posts to the same set of people, ignoring the hard work of those who helped bring the party to power.
Prominence to Adivasis
Adilabad: The Congress high command has given prominence to Adivasis while making appointments to its District Congress Committees. The party appointed Naresh Jadhav, a Lambada community (ST) leader, as the president of Adilabad DCC. Similarly, Khanapur MLA Vedma Bhojju and Atram Suguna, both Gond community (ST) leaders, were named presidents of the Nirmal and Komaram Bheem Asifabad district units respectively.
Komatireddy aide flays CM over Nalgonda DCC prez appointment
Nalgonda: Appointment of Punna Kailash Netha as the Nalgonda DCC president has triggered anger in the district Congress with Gummula Mohan Reddy, the Nalgonda town party president and a key follower of minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, expressing his displeasure with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. Speaking at a press conference here on Sunday, he alleged that Patel Ramesh Reddy got Tourism Corporation chairman post, while Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy and Raghuveer Reddy became MPs because of their closeness to the chief minister.
“If I were the follower of Revanth I too would have become either an MLA or an MLC,” he remarked. “My association with Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and my community have proved obstacles to my becoming the DCC president,” he said, adding that his seniority and service to the party were ignored. As many as 20 leaders who joined the party much after him bagged corporation posts, he alleged.