Hyderabad: With no representation in the existing AICC’s steering committee, leaders from Telangana are wondering if any important leader from the State would be able to make it to the next Congress Working Committee (CWC).
The 85th party plenary at Raipur in Chhattisgarh from February 24 to 26 will decide the CWC membership through a voting or nomination process. Following the AICC president’s election in 2022, the existing working committee was converted into the steering committee, which has no representative from Telangana.
The 48-member committee has one member from Telugu states, T. Subbarami Reddy, who represents Andhra Pradesh. This has triggered a debate within the state leaders, if the CWC will have one from Telangana considering that this is an election year.
According to party sources, some senior leaders remain hopeful, and feel seniors like former PCC chiefs Ponnala Lakshmaiah or V. Hanumantha Rao should be accommodated in the august and all-power body.
“There is hope but it is less likely that there will be anyone from the state even this time around,” said a senior leader closely monitoring the development.
Meanwhile, former PCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy informed that a preliminary meeting will be held for the 240 Telangana leaders, who will be attending the session.
“We shall have a preliminary meeting ahead of the plenary on February 20,” the Lok Sabha member told Deccan Chronicle.
During the plenary, around 30 from Telangana will be declared AICC members through polling or nomination. The ratio will be based on one AICC member for eight PCC delegates.
“Authorisation for finalising AICC members was handed over to Manikrao Thakre through a resolution. He is yet to take a call,” informed senior vice-president G. Niranjan, who is a PCC delegate.
