SANGAREDDY: The appointment of the Sangareddy District Congress Committee (DCC) president appears headed for a longer wait. Party circles indicate that the leadership may put the decision on the back-burner until the local body elections are over.
According to sources, the delay is on account of Minister Damodar Rajanarsimha’s inability to bring everyone under one roof and build consensus on the new DCC chief.
The Congress leadership, which earlier promised a transparent and above-board process for selecting DCC presidents, invited applications from interested candidates. The call drew as many as 46 applications from Sangareddy district. Among them, Rajanarsimha, TPCC working president T Jayaprakash Reddy alias Jagga Reddy and incumbent DCC president Nirmala Jayaprakash Reddy threw their weight behind Ujwal Reddy from the Zaheerabad region.
However, Zaheerabad MP Suresh Kumar Shetkar opposed Ujwal’s candidature, as the latter eyed the Zaheerabad Lok Sabha ticket in the last election.
Party insiders say Shetkar fears that installing Ujwal as the DCC chief would create a rival in his own backyard in the future. Instead, he pushed for the post to be handed to his nephew.
Adding fuel to the fire, Narayankhed MLA P Sanjeeva Reddy also rejected Ujwal’s name, insisting that the leadership should go to his elder brother Chandrasekhar Reddy. With three senior leaders digging in their heels, the party high command finds itself caught on the horns of a dilemma.
Despite AICC observer Szarita Laitphlang’s attempts to broker peace, her efforts went in vain, as none of the leaders was willing to budge. While MP Shetkar, MLA Sanjeeva Reddy and other district leaders continue to cooperate with Rajanarsimha on all other matters, they remain steadfast and unyielding on the DCC issue.
Party sources disclosed that current DCC president Nirmala Jayaprakash Reddy did not apply for another term and instead backed Ujwal Reddy.
A senior Congress leader remarked that if Shetkar and Sanjeeva Reddy continue to stand their ground, the party may well allow Nirmala to continue as the district president.
Elsewhere in the erstwhile Medak district, the Congress has already filled the top posts —T Akshara Reddy, daughter of former MLA T Narsa Reddy, has been appointed DCC president of Siddipet, while Anjaneyulu Goud from Narsapur has taken charge of Medak unit. Only Sangareddy remains a hard nut to crack, with Congress circles hinting that the leadership may let the dust settle after the local body elections before taking a final call.