Congress appoints backward class leader Mahesh Goud as Telangana unit chief

Hyderabad : Ending months of suspense, the Congress on Friday appointed Bomma Mahesh Kumar Goud, a leader from backward classes, as the new President of its Telangana unit.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge appointed Goud, currently the Working President of the state unit, to the top state post.

Goud succeeds Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who has been holding the dual posts since being sworn in as the Chief Minister on December 7, 2023.

The Congress, in a statement, said that the party appreciates the contributions of the outgoing state President Revanth Reddy.

The choice of Goud is seen as a strategic move by the Congress leadership to attract the 53 per cent strong BC communities in the state, who had apparently sided with the BJP in the Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections.

The ruling party has also tried to strike a social balance in the party as well as the government.

Political analysts say as the Chief Minister hails from the Reddy community and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka belongs to the Scheduled Caste community, the natural choice for the high command was to choose between a backward class and a Scheduled Tribe leader.

With the choice of Goud, the Congress has continued the tradition it followed in united Andhra Pradesh when a backward class leader was appointed state unit President whenever a Reddy was made the Chief Minister.

Though there were several contenders for the post of state President, the Congress leadership picked Goud, who is also a member of Telangana Legislative Council. Key contenders for the post had been lobbying hard with the party’s central leadership for the last few months. Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal had several rounds of consultations with the party in charge of Telangana Deepa Dasmunshi, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Vikramarka and others to choose the new state chief.

Former MP and another BC leader Madhu Yaskhi Goud, Mahabubabad MP and former Union Minister Porike Balaram Naik of the ST community and AICC Secretary S.A. Sampath Kumar were among the contenders.

However, Goud’s long association with the party and his loyalty to the Gandhi family is believed to have worked in his favour.

Hailing from Nizamabad district, Goud has been with the party for over three decades. He began his political journey with the party’s students wing NSUI. He served as the NSUI chief and also held key positions in the Youth Congress. Known for his commitment and deep understanding of grassroots issues, he held various positions in the state unit before finally becoming Working President.

After Congress came to power in the state, Goud was also made a member of the Legislative Council.

Revanth Reddy, whose term as state unit President ended on July 7, had requested the leadership to entrust the responsibility to some other leader so that he could concentrate on governance. Revanth Reddy was appointed state President in July 2021. He led the party to victory in Assembly elections held in November 2023 and was the high command’s choice for the post of Chief Minister.

As not much time was left for the Lok Sabha elections, the central leadership had asked Revanth Reddy to continue as the state unit chief. Revanth Reddy also led the campaign in Parliamentary elections. The Congress won eight out of 17 Lok Sabha seats but a section of the party leaders were not fully satisfied as they were expecting 10-12 seats. The central leadership acknowledged the need to have a full-time party state President to strengthen the organisation.