Hyderabad: AICC secretary R.C. Kuntia on Wednesday held one-to-one meetings with 30 senior Congress leaders at Gandhi Bhavan to pick leaders for senior positions in the AICC and the TPCC.
This was a repeat of the experiment in which Congress president Rahul Gandhi held separate interviews before appointing PCC presidents.
Mr Kuntia’s exercise comes amid talk of early elections doing the rounds. It was also to look at ways to strengthen the party in view of the impending elections.
The party had tried a similar method in Gujarat where four working presidents were appointed before the Assembly polls, besides the PCC president. A similar method is being adopted here, where it was decided to have three more working presidents, besides Mr Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka. The three would represent different caste groups.
The names of the aspirants included former MPs Ponnam Prabhakar and Anjan Kumar Yadav, former minister Danam Nagender and Dr P. Vinay Kumar, son of late P. Shiv Shanker, all belonging to different castes from Backward Classes. They were likely to be picked once Mr Kuntia submitted his report to Mr Gandhi.
Besides, two chairpersons, one for the manifesto committee and the other for the campaign committee, are also to be appointed. TD legislator A. Revanth Reddy, who joined the party recently, is likely to be picked for the campaign committee, party sources said.
It was also expected that a member for the Congress Working Committee, one for AICC general secretary and another for the AICC secretary post would go to the TS quota.
Mr Kuntia had been asked to list out names for all these posts balancing different caste equations and seniority in the party, sources revealed.
Among those who Mr Kuntia met included Mr Jana Reddy, Mr Shabbir Ali, Mr Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Dr J. Geetha Reddy, Mr V. Hanumantha Rao, Mr Ponnala Laxmaiah, Mr Balaram Naik, Mr Sarve Satyanarayana, Mr Anjan Kumar Yadav, Mr Mallu Ravi and Ms Sabita Indra Reddy.
I won’t leave TDP, clarifies Peddireddy
The meeting of AICC secretary R.C. Kuntia with BJP leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy and TD national general secretary E. Peddireddy did not happen on Wedne-sday.
Mr Kuntia offered to meet Dr Janardhan Re-ddy to convey to him Mr Gandhi’s green signal for his entry and accordingly a meeting was arr-anged on Wednesday. But the meeting did not happen owing to ind-isposition of Dr Janar-dhan Reddy’s mother.
Meanwhile, the TPCC leaders sent feelers to Mr Peddireddy to join the Congress.
Gandhi Bhavan sources said Mr Kuntia was to meet Mr Peddireddy at a private hotel in the city which did not take place.
Mr Peddireddy told Deccan Chronicle, “It is news to me that I am joining the Congress. No one approached me and no talks were held. I will not quit the Telugu Desam.
