The Congress High Command on Monday officially anointed Uttam Kumar Reddy as the President of Telangana State Congress Committee, replacing the present incumbent Ponnala Laxmaiah. The central leadership of the Congress has also appointed Mallu Batti Vikramarka as the Working President of TPCC.
The revamping of the present Telangana Congress Committee, which came in for severe criticism and ridicule from all quarters both in the state and at the Centre, was officially made after AICC President Sonia Gandhi held discussions with the Telangana Congress leaders and also senior central party functionaries.
Senior Congress leaders from Telangana including Ponnala Laxmaiah, K. Jana Reddy, V. Hanumantha Rao, Shabbir Ali besides Uttam Kumar Reddy and Batti Vikramarka attended the brainstorming meeting with Sonia Gandhi.
During the meting, Sonia Gandhi is learnt to have expressed her anguish and concern over the party leaders from Telangana failing to effectively take on the TRS Government on various issues affecting the people including that of the farmers. She advised the party leaders to firmly stand by the people in taking up their causes with the Telangana Government.
After the meting, the AICC announced the changes being effected in the TPCC and officially declared Uttam Kumar Reddy as President and Batti Vikramarka as Working President of TPCC.
Fifty-two year old Uttam Kumar Reddy is a former Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilot and was elected as MLA four times and served as minister in the Kiran Kumar Reddy Government. He now represents Huzurnagar Constituency in Nalgonda District. Ahead of the general elections last year, the party leadership had named him as the working president while appointing Ponnala as the chief. Reddy’s wife is also an MLA from Kodad.
On the other hand Bhatti Vikramarka was once elected as MLC and twice as MLA. Bhatti, a dalit legislator from Madhira constituency in Khammam district, is presently the CLP Secretary. In the previous Congress Government, he served as the Deputy Speaker and Chief Whip too. He is 51-year-old. (NSS).