Azharuddin picked as Cong working president in T’gana

HYDERABAD: Former Indian cricket captain and ex-member of Parliament Mohammad Azharuddin was Friday appointed working president of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) following reports that he was upset at being sidelined in the election campaign and contemplating joining the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

According to All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Ashok Gehlot, party president Rahul Gandhi had approved the appointment of Azharuddin, 55. The Telangana unit of the party already has three working presidents: former MP Ponnam Prabhakar, former member of the legislative assembly Anumula Revanth Reddy and senior leader Jetti Kusuma Kumar. Former Lok Sabha member from Delhi Sandeep Dikshit, who had worked for the party in Madhya Pradesh in the run up to assembly elections, has also been appointed as AICC secretary.

Besides, AICC named two vicepresidents, B M Vinod Kumar and Jaffer Javed; eight general secretaries, S Jagadeeshwar Rao, Nagesh Mudiraj, T Narsa Reddy, Manavatha Roy, Mohammed Faheem , N Kailash, Lakshma Reddy and M Krishank; and four secretaries, Durgam Bhaskar, Daruvu Ellanna, Vijaya Kumar and Balalakshmi, who doesn’t use initials or a second name.

Azharuddin said he was happy that he had been given a bigger responsibility. “As the captain of Indian cricket team, I had contributed my best to uphold the prestige of the country. And now, as working president of TPCC, I will do my best for the victory of the party. If asked, I will tour the entire country to campaign for the party in the 2019 elections. I am ready to contest the Lok Sabha elections from any constituency that is allotted to me by the party high command,” he said.