Senior Congress leaders in Adilabad upset by selection of DCC presidents

Senior Congress leaders in Adilabad expressed dissatisfaction with the party’s DCC appointments, alleging incumbents were favoured over long-serving leaders. Appointments of Naresh Jadhav, Vedma Bojju, Athram Suguna, and P. Raghunath Reddy sparked concerns over recognition and prioritisation of tribal vote banks.

Adilabad: Senior Congress leaders here are unhappy with the party leadership for selecting those who already hold posts as DCC presidents in the erstwhile Adilabad district.

According to party leaders, 29 applicants sought the DCC chief post of Mancherial, while Adilabad recorded 23 applications. Similarly, 24 applications were received for the Kumram Bheem Asifabad DCC post and 16 applications for the Nirmal DCC chief post. All applications were forwarded to the All India Congress Committee in New Delhi.

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Naresh Jadhav, Vedma Bojju, Athram Suguna and P Raghunath Reddy were appointed DCC presidents for Adilabad, Nirmal, Kumram Bheem Asifabad and Mancherial districts respectively. Three of the posts have been allocated to tribal leaders, reflecting social justice. However, the Congress party’s selection has disappointed long-serving leaders in the region.

The seniors reasoned that those who were already holding roles in the party were chosen as DCC presidents. They pointed out that Naresh Jadhav was a TPCC State secretary, Vedma Bojju was Khanapur MLA and Athram Suguna was a TPCC vice president. Suguna joined the Congress at the time of the 2023 Assembly elections.

Some of the seniors including Gandrath Sujatha, Shyam Naik, K V Pratap and K Srihari had pinned hopes on securing the DCC president posts of Adilabad, Kumram Bheem Asifabad and Nirmal districts. They used their contacts within the party, but the organisation reportedly prioritised the tribal vote bank and selected Naresh, Bojju and Suguna.

The seniors said they expected recognition considering their long service to the party and their efforts to sustain the party in the erstwhile Adilabad district, facing cases and humiliation from rival parties. They also claimed to have spent funds on organising party programmes from time to time.