Telangana Congress president Anumula Revanth Reddy, who steered the party to victory in the just-concluded Assembly elections, has been named the new chief minister of India’s youngest state. He would be sworn-in as the second chief minister of Telangana, which was carved out from Andhra Pradesh in 2004, on December 7 in Hyderabad, succeeding K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR)

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal announced 54-year-old Reddy’s name as the Telangana CM in Delhi after a series of parleys held by the party’s central leadership amidst competing claims for the top post.

The Congress on Sunday defeated the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) by winning 65 of the 119 seats, ending the 10-year rule of KCR in the southern state. Reddy, who was appointed the state Congress chief in 2021 after he switched over to the party from Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 2017, has been largely credited for this victory.

However, a section of Telangana Congress leaders dubbed him as an “outsider” and staked claim for the CM post.

Reddy started his career with the Ahil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and later moved to the TDP and won the Kodangal constituency in Mahaboobnagar district in the 2009 and 2014 assembly polls. After joining the Congress in October 2017, he lost to the BRS in the 2018 elections. However, he bounced back in just a few months, winning the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 Parliament elections.

Soon after he was appointed the state party chief, Reddy had faced a virtual revolt by a section of leaders.

However, the high command firmly stood by him and gave him a free hand in the selection of candidates and formulation of campaign strategies for the assembly polls.

He was successful in infusing new energy and dynamism into the organisation that was bogged down by groupism and infighting and ran a fiery campaign focusing on the ‘corruption and family rule’ of the BRS.

“After considering the report by the AICC (All India Congress Committee) observers and holding discussions, party president Mallikarjun Kharge has decided to go with Revanth Reddy as the CLP (Congress Legislative Party) leader,” Venugopal told the media in Delhi on Tuesday.

On Monday, the party had held a meeting of its newly elected MLAs in Hyderabad and passed a one-line resolution, authorising party president Mallikarjun Kharge to appoint the CLP leader, after multiple leaders staked claim for the CM’s post.

The leadership tussle brought back bitter memories of the early 1980s when the party had changed four chief ministers in the combined Andhra Pradesh. This had become one of the key campaign themes of the Telugu Desam founder N T Rama Rao who stormed to power within nine months after floating the regional party.

Former state party chief Uttar Kumar Reddy had said, “Yes, I have staked my claim and explained my case to (DK) Shivkumar (Karnataka deputy chief minister and Congress observer for Telangana). I am a seven-time MLA and have been loyal to the party for 30 years.”

He added, in an indirect dig at Revanth Reddy, “We were expecting 70 to 75 seats but got only 65. The performance is rather disappointing, though there was widespread anti-incumbency against the BRS government.”

The party’s floor leader in the outgoing assembly Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who had also thrown his hat in the ring, told the media on Sunday that he was ready to take up the responsibility “if the high command directs.”

Another senior leader from Nalgonda district, K Venkat Reddy, was also reportedly in the race.

On Tuesday, the meeting at Kharge’s residence was attended by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, AICC observer and Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivkumar, and AICC secretary incharge of Telangana Manikrao Thakre.

According to a senior Congress leader who is familiar with the developments, Rahul Gandhi pitched for Revanth Reddy’s candidature for CM’s post. Thereafter, another meeting was held at Venugopal’s residence where Uttam Kumar Reddy and Vikramarka were present, along with Shivkumar and Thakre.

Venugopal was flanked by both Uttam Kumar Reddy and Vikramarka during his interaction with the media in Delhi on Tuesday.

“Both the contenders (Uttam Kumar Reddy and Vikramarka) were asked to cooperate with Revanth Reddy and work unitedly for successful implementation of the promises made by the party to the people of Telangana,” a top leader familiar with the matter said.

However, there was no word about the composition of the new cabinet, or whether there would be any deputy chief minister’s post.

“All the details will be informed to you in due course,” Venugopal said.

“It is possible that the central leadership will eventually opt for one or two deputy CM posts to placate the aspirants,” a senior party leader said.