Mohammad Azharuddin appointed as working president of Telangana Congress Committee

In a major development ahead of Assembly elections, the Congress has appointed former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin as the working president of Telangana Congress Committee. In an official communique released on Friday, Congress national general secretary Ashok Gehlot said that party president Rahul Gandhi has approved the appointment of Azharuddin as the working president of the Grand Old Party's Telangana unit. Apart from Azharuddin, the Congress president has also appointed BM Vinod Kumar and Jaffer Javed as the vice presidents of the party's Telangana unit.

INC COMMUNIQUE

Appointment regarding office bearers of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee. pic.twitter.com/aaGV3uCB8r

— INC Sandesh (@INCSandesh) November 30, 2018

The decision to appoint Azharuddin - a former MP from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh - is seen as a strategic move by the Congress party before the December 7 Assembly elections and next year's general elections. Azharuddin had recently disclosed his intention to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Secunderabad Parliamentary constituency in his home state Telangana.

Among those appointed new general secretaries of Telangana Pradesh Congress are Jagadeeshwara Rao, Nagesh Mudiraj, T Narsa Reddy, Manavatha Roy, Faheem, Kailash, Laxma Reddy and Krishank.

Telangana is scheduled to go to polls on December 7 and the Congress has forged an alliance with Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the state to wrest power from K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) government.