Congress mulling options to appoint new State chiefs

New Delhi: Congress is set to appoint new State Presidents for Telangana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, sources said. In Telangana, State President Uttam Reddy has resigned while in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, the State chiefs have become ministers in the governments and in Uttarakhand the proposal to replace the State President is pending approval.

Sources say that for Maharashtra where Balasahab Thorat has become a minister in the MVA government, Congress leader Nana Patole who is the Assembly Speaker, is the front runner followed by Vijay Wattidwar and Amit Deshmukh.

Thorat has said, "I have told the party that if someone is there to replace me, I am ready to resign the post as I have been holding many posts." In Telangana, the names of Revanth Reddy and Madhu Goud Yasiki are doing the rounds to replace outgoing President Uttam Kumar Reddy who has resigned owing to defeat in the Hyderabad Municipality elections. After bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the Congress at its lowest position with the BJP surging ahead and positioning itself as the main opposition party in Telangana.

The Congress is contemplating appointing a new State President in Jharkhand after current PCC chief Rameshwar Oraon became a minister in the JMM-Congress government in the State. The Congress is trying to set its house in order in all States and strengthen the organisation.

In Uttarakhand, the party is set to replace Pritam Singh who is State President and appoint a new face probably a Dalit and Rajya Sabha MP Pradeep Tamta is the front runner for the post as the State has a sizeable Dalit population. Sources say former minister Navprabhat, a Brahmin, has also thrown his hat in the ring to head the Uttarakhand State unit.