Revanth Reddy to be next Telangana CM, swearing-in on Thursday

NEW DELHI: Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy, who switched from the TDP in 2017 and spearheaded the successful electoral campaign against the BRS, was on Tuesday named as the new chief minister of the state.

Announcing the decision at the party headquarters here on Tuesday, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said the swearing-in of the 54-year-old leader will take place on December 7 in Hyderabad.

Venugopal, however, did not say who all would join the government.

"We will recognise all senior leaders. This is going to be a team, this is not going to be a one-man show. The Congress will go with the team," he told reporters while replying to queries on the issue.

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, upstaging the BRS which has been in power for the last nine years.

"I wholeheartedly express my gratitude to honourable AICC president Shri Kharge ji, Mother of Telangana our beloved Soniamma, ever inspiring leader Rahul Gandhi ji, charismatic Priyanka Gandhi ji, AICC General Secretary (Org) K C Venugopalji, Deputy CM of Karnataka D K Shivakumar ji and Incharge General Secretary- Telangana Manikrao Thakare and last but not the least our Congress soldiers who stood by us through thick and thin," Reddy posted on X.

Venugopal said Revanth Reddy was working as the PCC president and is a dynamic leader who campaigned in this election extensively with other senior leaders.

"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," he said.

This is going to be a very clean and energetic and able government which is going to provide maximum governance to the people of Telangana, he asserted.

"We have already given a promise to the people of Telangana with our guarantees. We are very sure that the first and foremost priority of this new government is to fulfil the aspirations of the people of Telangana, especially the guarantees given to the people," he asserted.

He said the Congress Legislature Party held a meeting in Hyderabad on Monday to decide the new CLP leader, which was attended by observers D K Shivakumar, Manikrao Thakre, Deepa Dasmunshi, K Muraleedharam, K J George and Ajoy Kumar.

"They unanimously entrusted the decision of CLP to the Congress President," he said, adding that the detailed report on the observations about the CLP meeting by observers was handed over to the party chief on Tuesday.

He said the CLP meeting had also adopted resolutions thanking the people of Telangana and the leadership including Congress chief Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi for extensively campaigning in Telangana.

Shivakumar and Thakre were present as Venugopal announced the party high command's decision on Telangana.

He did not answer queries on how many ministers would be sworn in and whether there would be any deputy chief ministers.

The day saw hectic deliberations at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, where top Congress leadership including Rahul Gandhi discussed the issue of government formation in Telangana.

Revanth Reddy's name as chief minister in Telangana was cleared during this meeting after party observers handed over their report after speaking to the newly-elected MLAs in the southern state.

Karnataka deputy chief minister Shivakumar also separately met former Telangana PCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, who had staked his claim for the top post in the state.