There’s no agreement within Congress on who will be the upcoming Telangana Chief Minister, sources told NDTV on Monday, autumn, 24 hours after the party eased past K Chandrasekhar Rao’s BRS. Shortly after the Congress’ palm was verified, its state unit master, Revanth Reddy, who has been credited with orchestrating the success, had surfaced as a further than likely seeker for the top post.
However, the fiery 54-year-old, a former member of the BRS and BJP’s youth sect, has his share of critics in the party, and that, it’s believed, has raised some red flags over his possible appointment.
One set of sources had suggested to NDTV that Mr. Reddy is the first choice; “we will take a call (grounded) on the report submitted by the spectators (but) Revanth Reddy is the clear front-runner,” NDTV was told.
Mr. Reddy queried this election from Kodangal and won the seat. He also queried from Kamareddy, a high-profile clash with KCR that ended with a dramatic twist.
The BJP’s KV Ramana Reddy surfaced as a giant-killer and defeated both of them.
Others, however, said plans for the swearing-in form – understood to have been planned for this evening – had been laid over “till the decision on the Chief Minister is taken.” These sources also said Congress master Mallikarjun Kharge will advertise a name only after meeting with the party’s election spectators, a panel that includes Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
The spectators are due to fly in to Delhi on Tuesday, sources added.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the party’s recently-tagged MLAs was held in Hyderabad, and, as anticipated, they passed a resolution authorizing Mr. Kharge to pick a new Chief Minister.
There are at least two other possible campaigners for the state government’s top job, and all those hoping to succeed K Chandrasekhar Rao as the chief minister are also lobbying the elderly leadership.
One is Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, a Dalit leader who was also a prominent face in the crusade.
Before the pates, Mr. Vikramarka shouldered a 1,400 km state-wide bottom march that helped understand choosers’ enterprises. Sources said the 62-year-old leader’s yatra played a crucial part in the Congress’ palm.
Another is Uttam Kumar Reddy, a seven-time MLA and ex-Air Force airman who was the Congress’ state master until Revanth Reddy took over.
He remains a popular face among party workers and may be in the handling, if only to avoid possible unborn rifts by elevating Revanth Reddy to a top post less than 10 times after joining the party.
The Congress, devastated by the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, secured consolation, of a sort, by claiming palm in Telangana. The party secured 64 seats – four over the maturity mark. The BRS swept the state in 2018 with 88 seats but managed only 39 this time.
