Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has appointed senior Telangana leader and former Lok Sabha MP Madhu Goud Yaskhi as president of the All India Professionals Congress (AIPC). The All India Congress Committee (AICC) announced the appointment in an official statement issued by Congress national general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal on Wednesday. The statement said Yaskhi was appointed to the post by Kharge.
The Congress also appreciated the contribution of outgoing AIPC president Praveen Chakravarty.
The All India Professionals Congress is the Congress organisation focused on engagement and participation with professionals and experts from different fields. Yaskhi’s appointment comes as the Congress is focusing on strengthening its engagement with various social and professional groups.
Madhu Goud Yaskhi is a prominent Congress leader from Telangana and has long-standing experience in the party organisation and with its national leadership. He is also known for his close association with the Congress leadership.
Yaskhi is a highly educated leader and has been among the prominent Congress leaders from the Backward Classes community. He was a b supporter of the movement for the formation of a separate Telangana state.
Yaskhi has significant experience in electoral politics. In 2004, he contested the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat for the first time and won the election. He defeated Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate Syed Yousuf Ali by a margin of more than 1.37 lakh votes.
Yaskhi won the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat again in 2009. He defeated Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) candidate Beegala Ganesh Gupta by a margin of more than 60,000 votes.
After winning two consecutive Lok Sabha elections, Yaskhi became one of the Congress leaders recognised at the national level. He also served as Deputy Chief Whip of the Congress Parliamentary Party.
Yaskhi lost the Nizamabad seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. He contested against K. Kavitha, daughter of former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao. Kavitha won the election on a Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) ticket and defeated Yaskhi.
Yaskhi contested the Lok Sabha election again in 2019 but finished third.
The Nizamabad seat was won by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Dharmapuri Arvind, who defeated his nearest rival and TRS candidate K. Kavitha. Yaskhi finished third in the election.
In 2023, the Congress assigned Yaskhi another key organisational responsibility by appointing him chairman of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Campaign Committee.
In the Telangana Assembly election held the same year, the Congress fielded Yaskhi from the LB Nagar Assembly constituency, one of the key Assembly constituencies in Hyderabad. He could not win the election and finished third behind the BRS and BJP candidates.
Despite this, Yaskhi continued to hold an important role in the party organisation. His long experience in electoral politics and association with the Congress central leadership kept him among the party’s important leaders.
In 2024, Yaskhi’s name emerged among the possible contenders for the post of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president. At the time, then-TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy had become Chief Minister of Telangana, and discussions were underway over a change in the leadership of the state Congress organisation.
Yaskhi was considered among the leading contenders for the post. However, the Congress ultimately appointed Mahesh Kumar Goud as TPCC president.
With his appointment as president of the All India Professionals Congress, Yaskhi’s role in the Congress organisation has expanded to the national level. The new responsibility places him in charge of the organisation’s engagement and organisational outreach with professional groups across the country.
The appointment comes as the Congress seeks to expand its engagement with professional groups. Yaskhi has experience in electoral politics, Parliament and party organisation, including his long association with the Telangana Congress.
Yaskhi will now lead the All India Professionals Congress at the national level. His responsibilities include the organisation’s engagement with professionals, experts and people associated with different fields.
His appointment expands his role beyond Telangana into the national Congress organisation. Having served as a two-time Lok Sabha MP, Yaskhi has experience in electoral politics as well as parliamentary and organisational work.
The Congress leadership has handed him the responsibility of the organisation after acknowledging the contribution of outgoing president Praveen Chakravarty.
