Congress party has been giving top priority to the powerful Reddy community for many decades. PCC president and chief minister posts were held by the community several times. But after the bifurcation of the state, the party seems to have not benefited much with its preference to Reddys in Telangana. Hopes of the party becoming a dominant force after granting separate Telangana have been dashed.
Speculation is rife that there will be a revamp of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) soon. Talk in the party is that a non-Reddy leader may replace Uttam Kumar Reddy as PCC chief. Leaders of other castes complain that Reddys have been ruling the roost in the party for many years holding most of the key posts as well as ministerial berths when the party was in the power in the then united AP.
Apart from this, there is also speculation that Sonia-Rahul duo will sideline leaders seen to be pro-Gulam Nabi Azad, who raised his voice against the Gandhi family a few days ago. Currently, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka is the working president of the party. He is among those leaders who demanded continuation of Sonia Gandhi as AICC president during the August 23 CWC meet. The silence of PCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy during the crucial time is said to have been noted by the party high command.
Party sources say the high command has been considering choosing a leader from backward and downtrodden classes to take on Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. It is also expected that Sonia will give importance to young leaders this time.
Of the two major rival castes in Telangana, Velamas and Reddys, Velamas are backing TRS. Since the BJP and TDP are fumbling at the moment, Congress high command feels that Reddys will not leave the party at least for their own political survival and will not mind having no posts. In this backdrop, the view that the dominance of Reddys in Telangana Congress is going to end is gaining ground.
