Hyderabad: The Congress on Tuesday named TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy as the party’s first Chief Minister for Telangana state, with the oath-taking ceremony scheduled for December 7 at LB Stadium. Party sources said after taking the oath, he would sign the first file as the Chief Minister towards implementing the Congress’ Six Guarantees.
By naming its Chief Minister for Telangana, the Congress beat out the BJP in declaring the leader of the Legislature, with the saffron party still considering candidates in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Fifty-four-year-old Revanth Reddy was credited for the Congress’ thumping victory in the recently-concluded Assembly elections, wherein it secured a clear majority of 64 seats. He was also the party’s poster boy for its campaign.
Disclosing the decision taken at the AICC meeting at a press conference in Delhi on the day, the party’s organisational general secretary K.C. Venugopal said: “Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has decided to go with Revanth Reddy as the new Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader. Revanth Reddy is working as the PCC president. He is a dynamic leader who campaigned extensively with other senior leaders. We are very sure that the first and foremost priority of this government will be to fulfil the aspirations of the people of Telangana and the guarantees given to them.”
Venugopal was accompanied by AICC Telangana incharge Manikrao Thakre, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and senior TPCC leader N. Uttam Kumar Reddy.
“Going by the feedback provided by the Congress observers, including D.K. Shivakumar, Manikrao Thakare and other leaders, the Congress president decided to nominate Revanth Reddy as the CLP leader,” Venugopal said.
He said that while the Telangana CLP met on Monday in Hyderabad, it decided to authorise the Congress president to nominate the CLP leader.
Venugopal said that the new Congress government would be a team effort in the state, with all senior leaders being involved in the process. “It will be not a one-man show, but more of a team effort. All seniors will be recognised,” he said.
Revanth Reddy, upon being informed of the decision, rushed to Delhi by a special flight from the Begumpet Airport. He will meet AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other senior leaders to personally thank them for selecting him and invite them for the swearing-in-ceremony on December 7, sources said.
In a post on X, Revanth Reddy thanked all the top leaders. He posted: “I wholeheartedly express my gratitude to honourable AICC president Shri @kharge ji, Mother of Telangana our beloved #Soniamma, ever inspiring leader @RahulGandhi ji, charismatic @priyankagandhi ji, AICC General Secretary (Org) @kcvenugopalmp ji, deputy CM of Karnataka @DKShivakumar ji and Incharge General Secretary- Telangana @Manikrao_INC
ji and last but not the least our congress soldiers who stood by us through thick and thin (sic).”
Coming from a non-political family engaged in agriculture, Revanth Reddy completed his Bachelor in Arts from AV College in Hyderabad, during which he was associated with the Akhila Bharatiya Vidya Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
After trying his hand in real estate and other businesses, he began his political career with the then TRS in 2001-02. But, he quit the party in 2006, claiming he was sidelined.
He contested the ZPTC polls in 2006 as an independent candidate, winning in the Midjil mandal of Mahbubnagar. He went on to win the MLC elections as an independent candidate from Mahbubnagar in 2007 and subsequently, joined the Telugu Desam the same year.
He was first elected an MLA from the Kodangal constituency in 2009 and retained the seat in 2014. After quitting TD for the Congress in 2017, Revanth Reddy faced a shocking defeat at the hands of BRS in Kondangal in the 2018 Assembly polls. But within six months, he was elected MP from the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat in May 2019.
Revanth Reddy's surge to the spotlight began in June 2021, when he was appointed the TPCC president, a multi-level promotion for someone who had only joined the party four years earlier, in 2017.
Although senior leaders in the party who have served it for decades strongly opposed the move to make Revanth the TPCC chief, the party high command stood by him. This was evident by the number of times he shared the stage with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge during the campaign in Telangana.
Revanth Reddy’s camaraderie with the high command was on show on November 28, the last day of campaigning, when Rahul Gandhi joined Revanth in a roadshow in Malkajgiri.
The Congress government at the Centre, which accorded statehood to Telangana in June 2014, came to power in Telangana for the first time. Then TRS (now BRS) came to power in Telangana state twice, in 2014 and 2018, with K. Chandrashekar Rao serving as the state’s Chief Minister for over nine-and-a-half years, from June 2014 to December 2023.
Revanth Reddy will become the second Chief Minister of Telangana on December 7.
