Revanth Reddy is new Telangana Chief Minister; to take oath on Dec 7

Hyderabad: Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy will be the new chief minister of the state. The decision of the Congress leaders was announced at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Tuesday.

All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary KC Venugopal said the swearing-in will take place on December 7 in Hyderabad. Revanth Reddy, who was in Gachibowli with other Congress MLAs, left for Delhi after the announcement.

“After considering the report of observers and after discussion with senior leaders, the Congress president has decided to go with Revanth Reddy as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Telangana,” Venugopal said. He did not answer queries on how many ministers would be sworn in and whether there would be any deputy chief ministers.

The key decision on the CM post was based on the inputs given by the MLAs, the political observers, the deputy chief minister of Karnataka DK Shiv Kumar and the Congress party senior leader for Telangana Manikrao Thakare, among others. Senior Congress leader Uttam Kumar Reddy and Bhatti Vikramarka were present during the announcement in Delhi.

2023 Election victory

Revanth Reddy was the frontrunner for the top post in the state after the party staged a stupendous victory in Assembly elections by winning 64 seats in Telangana, defeating the incumbent BRS.

Revanth Reddy was the only leader who campaigned not just in his home constituency Kodangal and Kamareddy, where he challenged former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, but addressed election rallies across the state. Revanth Reddy addressed 55 public meetings in various constituencies to boost the party’s prospects. He reached out to disgruntled leaders in the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and convinced them to join the state Congress.

Support of cadre

Reddy is said to have started his groundwork in 2018 when he was the working president of the party. The ground cadre found his interest mesmerising and they flocked towards him. The support that he amassed which helped revive the hibernating Congress cadre was his biggest strength.

In the rural areas of Telangana, people reached out to him and he was ready to listen to what they had to say. The first Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi rally in LB Nagar was only a part of what he set out to do for Telangana.

Teamwork

While Reddy has the ground cadre supporting him and also won over most of his opponents, there were still hiccups noticed by those who were not willing to work with him. However, the Congress leadership in Delhi has been working on mending ways and they are confident they will work as a team. KC Venugopal in Delhi said, “We are going to work as a team in Telangana.” This was said in the presence of former Congress president Uttam Kumar Reddy and senior leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka.

Political beginnings

Revanth Reddy was born on November 8, 1969, in Kondareddypalli village of Nagarkurnool district. He studied Bachelor of Arts from AV College, Osmania University.

He started his political journey in 2006 Midjil mandal in Mahbubnagar district where he became a member of ZPTC. He was later independently elected as an MLC of local bodies in 2007.

Beginnings with TDP

Revanth Reddy was a former MLA in the N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and joined Congress party in 2017. He contested in the 2014 undivided Andhra Pradesh elections and was elected to the Telangana Assembly from Kodangal with a majority of 14,614 votes against Gurunath Reddy. He was elected as the floor leader of TDP in the Telangana Legislative Assembly.

On October 25 2017, TDP removed him as the floor leader of the Telangana after reports surfaced that he would consider joining the Congress party.

Starting journey with Congress

He was one of the working presidents in 2018 and was later appointed as the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president in July 2021.

In 2018, he contested from Kodangal as a Congress candidate but lost which was his first defeat in elections. He then contested for the member of Parliament post from Malkajgiri constituency. He was elected as an MP and worked closely with senior Congress leaders in Delhi. He is known to be quite close to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.