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Anumula Revanth Reddy, who helped Congress dethrone the mighty K Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi, took oath as the second Chief Minister of Telangana in front of a packed Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad that had the Gandhi family in attendance.
Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, a prominent Dalit leader who undertook a key 100-day padayatra in March, was sworn-in as deputy CM of Telangana. Former state Congress chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy, C Damodar Rajanarasimha, Komatireddy Venkata Reddy and D. Sridhar Babu also took oath as ministers as Telangana saw a regime change from the BRS for the first time since being formed in 2014.
Apart from the Gandhis, CPI general secretary D Raja, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar also attended the swearing-in ceremony.
READ | Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka: Telangana Dy CM And Congress Dalit Face Who Led Key ‘People’s March’
A first-generation politician, Reddy, known for his aggressive approach and mass appeal, changed the fortunes of the Congress in just two years after he was asked to lead the party in Telangana.
As CM, his initial task will be to fulfill the six guarantees of the Congress made during election campaign, inlcuding waiving up to Rs 2 lakh farm loan and free travel for women in government buses.
Shri @revanth_anumula takes the oath as the CM of Telangana.
📍 Hyderabad pic.twitter.com/LrioYA0XYu
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 7, 2023
Who Is Revanth Reddy?
Revanth Reddy, a master strategist credited for Congress’ thumping victory in Telangana where it won 64 of the 119 assembly seats, had started his political career as a student activist with ABVP. He was also with the BRS for a brief period and then joined Telugu Desam Party (TDP) before shifting to Congress.
However, it was not a smooth journey for the 56-year-old to the post of CM. Reddy, who hails from a small village Kondareddipalli in Wanaparthy district, does not have a political background and was born in an agricultural family on November 8, 1969.
His first political victory came when he was elected as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) as an independent candidate. The charismatic leader soon caught the eye of N Chandrababu Naidu and he joined the Telugu Desam Party.
Reddy went on to win from Kodangal Assembly seat in 2009 in then-united Andhra Pradesh. After the formation of Telangana in 2014, he was again elected from Kodangal.
However, Reddy’s political career had a blip after his name cropped up in a bribing scandal and he had to spend a brief period in jail.
He resigned from the TDP and joined the Congress in 2017. In the 2018 Assembly election, he lost from his bastion Kodangal to the BRS. However, Reddy bounced back next year and registered a thumping win in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the Malkajgiri constituency.
The biggest role came when he was entrusted with the Congress party’s reins in 2021 and was made the state president, replacing senior leader N Uttam Kumar Reddy.
Since then, there has been no looking back for Reddy, who aggressively took on the ruling BRS and KCR and hit the ground running to give Congress its only win in the five states that went to polls. While Reddy won the Kodangal seat, he was defeated by BJP’s K Venkata Ramana Reddy in Kamareddy, which was also contested by KCR.
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