Telangana Congress president Anumula Revanth Reddy will take oath as the new chief minister of the state on December 7, the grand old party announced on Tuesday.
Congress wrested power from the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) in the southern state in the recently held elections after winning 64 seats in the 119-member assembly.
AICC general secretary in charge of Organisation K.C. Venugopal made the announcement after a meeting of the top party leaders in New Delhi.
"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.
The meeting held at the residence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge was attended by senior leader Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Telangana Congress in-charge Manikrao Thakre.
On Monday, a meeting of the newly-elected Congress MLAs had resolved to authorise Kharge to appoint the leader of the Congress Legislature Party. Reddy moved the resolution and it was seconded by senior MLAs, including Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and D. Sridhar Babu.
Reddy won from Kodangal constituency with a margin of over 32,000 votes defeating his nearest BRS rival Patnam Narender Reddy. The Congress leader however lost from Kamareddy.
"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.
The 56-year-old leader joined Congress only six years ago and has swiftly risen to become the state unit’s working president, MP and, currently, Telangana Congress president.
He enjoys a mass following, especially among the youth, and has the image of a rebel taking on outgoing chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, his son, K.T. Rama Rao, and other family members.
