Former Indian skipper Azharuddin made the working president of Telangana Congress

What's the story?

Former captain of the Indian cricket team, Mohammed Azharuddin has been appointed as the working president of the Telangana Congress Unit today. This comes after the Indian batsman disclosed his intentions of contesting in next months' Telangana general assembly elections from Secunderabad constituency.

The background

Azharuddin started his political career in 2009 when he became a Member of Parliament (MP) to the Lok Sabha by winning the elections from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. However, the former Indian cricketer could not secure a win in the 2014 elections from the Tonk Sawai Madhopur constituency in Rajasthan. He shifted the base of his political career with Congress to his home state. Hence, he has actively been a part of Telangana state's Congress unit's activities since then. In 2012, he got a huge breather when the Andhra Pradesh High Court declared the life ban given to him in cricket was declared illegal.

The details

Apparently, Azharuddin's decision to contest in the upcoming elections was met with severe backlash from many senior leaders within the Congress unit of Telangana state. Hence, Azharuddin became unhappy with the treatment meted out to him within his own party.

In a move to placate the influential cricketer, The Indian National Congress has appointed Mohammed Azharuddin as the state's working president. This would mean that Mohammed Azharuddin would be involved in all the major decisions that will be taken within the party in Telangana.

The Congress also announced that local leaders BM Vinod Kumar and Jaffer Javed will take office as the state unit's Vice Presidents. Rahul Gandhi also approved eight new general secretaries and four secretaries who will assist Mohammed Azharuddin in the upcoming general elections in Telangana.