Mahesh Goud’s name finalised for TPCC chief post?

Congress party finalizes Bomma Mahesh Kumar Goud as Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president, awaiting official announcement.

Ending months of suspense the Congress party Central leadership has reportedly finalised the name of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) working president and MLC Bomma Mahesh Kumar Goud as next TPCC president.

However, an official announcement on the appointment is awaited, sources said adding that the Central leadership was also deliberating on the proposed cabinet expansion in Telangana as the government completed over eight months in power.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Minister for Irrigation N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, AICC in charge Deepa Dasmunshi attended a meeting convened by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi where Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary K.C.Venugopal were present on Friday.

Sources said all the leaders from Telangana unanimously recommended the name of Mr. Mahesh Goud for TPCC chief. The race was between former MP Madhu Yaskhi Goud, another BC leader from the same Goud community, Mahabubabad MP and former Union Minister Porike Balaram Naik (ST) and AICC secretary S.A. Sampath Kumar in the event of the party favouring an SC.

The decision is seen as a strategic move to attract the 53% strong BC communities in the State, which slowly but steadily had sided with the BJP in the Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections. With the Chief Minister hailing from the Reddy community and the Deputy Chief Minister belonging to the SC community, the natural choice for the high command was to choose between a BC and ST leader.

Mr. Mahesh Goud has been with the party for over three decades starting of with its students wing NSUI. Hailing from Nizamabad district, he rose through the ranks due to sheer hardwork to becomes the NSUI chief, then holding key position in the Youth Congress and serving the successive PCC’s in various positions and finally becoming TPCC working president. Luck also smiled on him when he was chosen as an MLC. His perseverence, commitment and deep understanding of grassroots issues and above all loyalty to the Gandhi family has stood in good stead.

Party leaders also feel that by zeroing in on a BC leader for the State unit, the Congress high command has continued its tradition of balancing the caste equation. Right from 1992, there is a mix of OC and BC leaders sharing CM and PCC chief post. When M. Channa Reddy and N. Janardhan Reddy were the CM’s, the party had preferred V. Hanumantha Rao and Majji Tulasidas as the State unit chief in then united Andhra Pradesh.