Fiercely loyal and loyally fierce, Revanth Reddy's trial by fire
It is to draw parallels between Telangana PCC chief and soon-to-be Chief Minister Anumula Revanth Reddy, and firebrand BJP leader, and the party’s biggest hope in the state till recently, Bandi Sanjay Kumar.
Both are leaders who shot to limelight over the year preceding the elections, thanks to their aggressive charge against the ruling and all-pervasive Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the state. Both are young by political standards, being 56 and 52 respectively. And both are eloquent speakers.
But here is where the comparison ends. If Sanjay Kumar made his mark with his Hindutva rhetoric, and put the BJP in fighting mode in a state where it had no presence, till he was abruptly removed as party state chief, Revanth is an orator largely in the mould of old politicians, mixing eloquence with emotions and direct attacks to connect to the audience.
Born of several agitations, Telangana doesn’t shy from change; Assembly results reflect this
When the Election Commission (EC) announced the polling schedule for Telangana in October, there was consensus about the K Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s (BRS’s) firm hold on the state.
The party had 103 of the 119 sitting MLAs, a range of direct-cash-benefit-transfer schemes that catered to almost all communities, a vision for expanding capital Hyderabad’s tech potential, and one of the foremost faces of the Telangana statehood movement as the CM. The party too seemed confident to tide over anti-incumbency — it retained most of its sitting MLAs and ministers — and there was seemingly no formidable Opposition.
But a dramatic turnaround ensued and now, the mighty BRS has been reduced to 39 seats.
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Newly elected Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy got down to work almost immediately after taking oath on Wednesday afternoon, approving the “six guarantees” the Congress had made in the run-up to the elections.
Revanth signed two files on his first day. While one pertained to the pre-poll guarantees, the other one was regarding employment for a differently abled woman, T K Rajini, to whom he had promised a job while campaigning in Achampet in Nagarkurnool district. Rajini will be allotted a job at a district collector’s office of her choosing.
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Earlier in the day, even before the swearing-in ceremony began, the fence outside Pragathi Bhavan, which will now be renamed Jyotiba Phule Praja Bhavan, was removed. This too was a promise that Revanth had made during campaigning saying “prajala rajyam (people’s government)” will prevail in the state if the Congress is voted to power. Revanth will hold regular praja darbars here, the first of which is scheduled for Friday. However, Revanth has not indicated yet if he will move from his home in Hyderabad’s Jubilee Hills neighbourhood to the CM’s official residence. (Read more)
Bhatti Vikramarka’s long march to becoming Telangana’s Dy CM, stopped by ‘neither heat, rain’, nor shrunken party
Telangana got a Dalit Deputy Chief Minister Thursday as 63-year-old Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu, the four-time MLA from Madhira Assembly constituency in Khammam district, took his oath along with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and other Ministers.
On a momentous Thursday, Revanth Reddy made history by being sworn in as the inaugural Chief Minister from the Congress party in Telangana. The occasion sparked widespread jubilation among Congress workers who enthusiastically celebrated this significant milestone.
Telangana got its first Congress Chief Minister on Thursday as A Revanth Reddy took oath at the L B Stadium in Hyderabad. MLA Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister, creating history as the first Dalit person to occupy the post.
Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan administered the oath of office and secrecy, and the event was attended by All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Here’s a full list of ministers sworn into the new Cabinet
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin congratulated the Telangana CM-designate and state party chief Revanth Reddy today.
Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were among the scores of party members who took to X to congratulate CM Revant Reddy post swearing in.
WHEN THE Election Commission (EC) announced the polling schedule for Telangana in October, there was consensus about the K Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s (BRS’s) firm hold on the state.
The party had 103 of the 119 sitting MLAs, a range of direct-cash-benefit-transfer schemes that catered to almost all communities, a vision for expanding capital Hyderabad’s tech potential, and one of the foremost faces of the Telangana statehood movement as the CM. The party too seemed confident to tide over anti-incumbency — it retained most of its sitting MLAs and ministers — and there was seemingly no formidable Opposition.
The BJP was surely attempting to mount a challenge, but did not have a base. The Congress, which had won 19 seats in 2018 and was dealing with internal differences, was considered to be nowhere in the picture. (Read more)
Telangana Chief Minister-designate A Revanth Reddy finds himself in the centre of a controversy even before being sworn in as the first Congress CM of the state.
Attacks on Revanth are coming from unexpected quarters – Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and Lalu Prasad’s RJD in Bihar. And over a comment that he made a month ago. Now, the BJP too has latched on to the comments and attacked Revanth. (Read more)
Telangana Chief Minister-designate A Revanth Reddy finds himself in the centre of a controversy even before being sworn in as the first Congress CM of the state.
Attacks on Revanth are coming from unexpected quarters – Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and Lalu Prasad’s RJD in Bihar. And over a comment that he made a month ago. Now, the BJP too has latched on to the comments and attacked Revanth. (Read more)
Chief Minister-in-waiting A Revanth Reddy led the Congress party’s campaign in Telangana — its sole spark in an otherwise dismal showing in the recently-held assembly elections in five states. Now, Reddy faces a slew of challenges on both the governance and political fronts. The new chief minister of a young state will play a key role in seizing, or not, the opportunity his party has to consolidate its presence in South India as well as lay the ground for a model of governance it can showcase at the national level, ahead of the general election next year.
The biggest task for the new government will be to find ways to finance the exuberant promises made during the campaign. (Read more)
The Congress ousted Bharat Rashtra Samithi in Telangana after securing 64 out of the 119 seats.
On the November 30 polls, the state saw a voter turnout of 70.60 per cent. The BRS had fielded candidates in all 119 seats. As per the seat sharing agreement, the BJP and actor K Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP) contested in 111 and eight seats respectively, while the Congress had given one seat to its ally Communist Party of India (CPI), and fought from the other 118.
Here's the full list of winners.
Originally a Telugu Desam Party leader, Thummalla Nageshwara Rao won for the TDP from Sathupalli in 1985, 1994 and 1999.
The six-time MLA from Kollapur, Jupally Krishna Rao, was a minister in the Cabinets of Dr Y S Rajashekar Reddy and N Kiran Kumar Reddy.
Four-time MLA Surekha, a staunch loyalist of Dr Y S Rajashekar Reddy, served as minister for women's and children's welfare in his Cabinet.
Popularly known as Seethakka, Dansari Anasuya joined the Janashakti Naxal group when she was 14.
In 2014, Reddy won the Khammam Lok Sabha seat on the YSRCP ticket but joined the BRS later.
Associated with the Congress since his youth, in 2009, Prabhakar was elected as MP from Karimnagar.
A five-time MLA from Nalgonda and MP from the Bhuvanagiri Lok Sabha constituency, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy was IT minister in late Dr Y S Rajashekara Reddy’s Cabinet.
Five-time MLA from Manthani, Sridhar Babu served as the civil supplies minister and held various other portfolios in the undivided Andhra Pradesh government.
A former Indian Air Force pilot, Reddy is a six-time MLA — from Kodad from 1999 to 2009, and later from Huzurnagar.
Narasimha was the deputy chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh from 2011 till the state bifurcation in 2014.
Taking oath at the L B Stadium in Hyderabad today, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka has become Telangana's first Dalit deputy chief minister.
He was one of the most prominent faces of the Congress’s campaign in the state polls.
Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan. at the L B Stadium in Hyderabad, administerd the oath of office to Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka to take charge as the Deputy CM of Telangana.
A Revanth Reddy was sworn in as the chief minister of Telangana by Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan at the L B Stadium in Hyderabad.
After the arrival of Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, the leaders on stage stood up for the national anthem.
The brother-sister duo arrived shortly after Sonia Gandhi made her entry along with CM-designate Revanth Reddy.
A Revanth Reddy, set to be sworn in as the CM of Telangana, arrived at the L B Stadium of Hyderabad with Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Karnataka CM Shivakumar are also in attendance.
It's easy to draw parallels between Telangana PCC chief and soon-to-be Chief Minister Anumula Revanth Reddy, and firebrand BJP leader, and the party’s biggest hope in the state till recently, Bandi Sanjay Kumar.
Both are leaders who shot to limelight over the year preceding the elections, thanks to their aggressive charge against the ruling and all-pervasive Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the state. Both are young by political standards, being 56 and 52 respectively. And both are eloquent speakers.
But here is where the comparison ends. If Sanjay Kumar made his mark with his Hindutva rhetoric, and put the BJP in fighting mode in a state where it had no presence, till he was abruptly removed as party state chief, Revanth is an orator largely in the mould of old politicians, mixing eloquence with emotions and direct attacks to connect to the audience. Read more
Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Deepender S Hooda are set to attend the swearing-in ceremony. They were captured at the Delhi airport on their way to Hyderabad earlier today.
Stating that the Congress party had faced flak over not announcing the chief ministerial candidate in Telangana within 24 hours of the Assembly election results, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh pointed out that three days have passed since the results but the BJP is yet to announce any of the three CMs.
Renuka Singh is among the top contenders for the chief ministerial post in Chhattisgarh ever since the BJP's resounding victory in the Assembly elections.
Interestingly Deputy Editor at The Indian Express, Liz Mathew, witnessed several MPs greeting Singh as the "future CM" at the Parliament house this morning.
The BJP is yet to announce the next chief ministers for Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan after winning the Assembly polls.
The 62-year-old Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in the outgoing Telangana Assembly, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka was one of the most prominent faces of the Congress’s campaign in the state polls.
His padyatra or foot march called “People’s March” which Vikramarka undertook across Telangana, covering over 1,400 km through 36 Assembly constituencies from March to June is widely credited, among other factors, with ensuring the Congress’s resurgence leading to its return to power in the state.
In light of his padyatra, Vikramarka gave a number of suggestions to the Congress for its manifesto for the Assembly polls. His inputs were reflected in the framing of the party’s manifesto as well as its Declarations for farmers, youths and minorities. Read more
Telangana Chief Minister-designate A Revanth Reddy found himself in the centre of a controversy just before being sworn in as the first Congress CM of the state.
Attacks on Revanth are coming from unexpected quarters – Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and Lalu Prasad’s RJD in Bihar. And over a comment that he made a month ago. Now, the BJP too has latched on to the comments and attacked Revanth.
What had he said? About a month ago, speaking at the India Today media conclave, the former TDP leader was asked whether he saw his DNA as the Congress DNA. Revanth replied that he saw his DNA as “Telangana DNA” and then went on to talk about then Telangana CM and Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrashekar Rao, saying: “KCR’s DNA belongs to Bihar. KCR’s caste is Kurmi. Kurmis are from Bihar. They migrated from Bihar to Vizianagaram and from there to Telangana. My DNA is from Telangana… My DNA is Telangana DNA, and it is better than Bihar DNA.”
The row started when Revanth’s remark resurfaced following Sunday Assembly election results, and the talk that the state Congress chief would be the next Telangana CM. Here's how party leaders responded.
Revanth Reddy will be the first Congress Chief Minister of Telangana, which the party-led UPA government helped create in 2014. Reddy was an easy choice for the Congress with a majority of the newly-elected MLAs favouring him.
The Congress has ended the BRS’s nine-year rule by winning 64 seats.
The oath-taking ceremony will also see an attempt to thaw the chill within the INDIA bloc after the Congress’s defeat in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Reddy, on the insistence of the Congress leadership, spoke to the non- Congress chief ministers of the opposition INDIA bloc, inviting them to his swearing-in ceremony. Read more
Where: LB Stadium in Hyderabad
When: 1.04 pm
Who will be attending: Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge, along with non-Congress CMs of the INDIA bloc are likely to be in attendance.
As many as 10 other ministers, namely N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Ponnam Prabhakar, Dasari Anasuya, Damodar Raja Narasimha, D Sridhar Babu, Thummala Nageshwara Rao, Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, Konda Surekha, and Jupally Krishna Rao, will be sworn in by Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan today.
With the Congress trouncing the Bharat Rashtra Samithi in the recently-concluded Assembly elections, A Revanth Reddy is set to be sworn in as the chief minister of Telangana today. He will be taking his oath in Hyderabad along with Mallu Bhatti Vikaramarka, who will be sworn in as his deputy.