Bhatti Vikramarka May Be Telangana CLP Leader

A Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting was held in an Assembly committee hall on Thursday. All the 19 MLAs of the party attended the meeting.

The meeting was presided over by AICC special emissary K C Venugopal, who held one-on-one discussions with each of the MLAs. Some of the aspirants for the CLP leader post urged the AICC leader to consider their candidatures. At the end, however, the MLAs all told Venugopal that they were leaving the decision of who the CLP leader would be to Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The meeting also passed a single-sentence resolution to this effect.

Addressing mediapersons later along with the party's Telangana affairs in-charge R C Kuntia and TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Venugopal said that the party president would take a decision on the appointment of the CLP leader. He said that he had already held discussions on the issue with the core committee members of the party, its senior leaders and its MLCs, and would pass on his notes to Gandhi. Gandhi would then decide on the CLP leader, Venugopal said.

TPCC working president and three-time MLA of the party Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka appears to have emerged as the front-runner for the post. Party sources said that the high command was likely to favour Vikramarka as he belonged a Scheduled Class.

Vikramarka has worked as chief whip of the party and Deputy Speaker earlier.