New AICC in-charge of Telangana, Manikrao Thakre meets party leaders

Hyderabad: The new AICC in-charge of party affairs in Telangana Manikrao Thakre on Wednesday held discussions with senior party leaders in the State as he begins the mission to shore up the party's fortunes against the backdrop of a string of electoral setbacks and recent disunity in the party unit.

On his maiden visit to Telangana after being appointed as the AICC in-charge, Thakre held consultations with AICC secretaries Bose Raju, Rohit Chaudhary and Nadeem Javed and later with State Congress president and MP A Revanth Reddy, Congresss Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, party MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy and others, Congress sources said.

Thakre, a senior Congress leader from Maharashtra, would meet District Congress Committee (DCC) leaders, official spokespersons and others on Thursday, they said.

Earlier today, Revanth Reddy and other party leaders accorded a warm welcome to Thakre at the city's international airport.

Thakre was on January 4 appointed as AICC in-charge of party affairs in Telangana in the place of Manickam Tagore.

Tagore, a Lok Sabha member, was appointed as AICC in-charge of Goa.

The shifting of Tagore from Telangana to Goa came against the backdrop of internal bickering in the Telangana Congress playing out in the open with some senior leaders alleging that those who recently joined the party got prominence at the cost of "original leaders and activists." 

Senior AICC leader Digvijaya Singh visited the State last month and held consultations with party leaders to resolve the issue.

Thakre faces the uphill task of gearing up the Congress in Telangana for Assembly elections to be held towards the end of 2023 and the Lok Sabha polls in 2024 in the face of stiff competition from the ruling BRS and the BJP.

While the BRS would like to retain power in the State, the BJP has been making efforts to emerge as the alternative to the BRS.

After its poor show in the 2018 Legislative Assembly elections, Congress has faced a string of losses in a few Assembly bypolls and also in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) election.