Soon after Anumula Revanth Reddy was sworn in as the first Congress Chief Minister of Telangana on December 7 in front of a crowd of thousands at the Lal Bahadur Stadium in the State’s capital, he vowed to revive a tradition of inviting the public into the halls of power to present their grievances directly to him. He immediately signed his first file, to implement the six welfare ‘guarantees’ that headlined the Congress’ poll manifesto.
Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan administered the oath of office to Reddy, who steered his party to victory in India’s youngest State, in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra, as well as the Congress CMs of Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.
On December 9, Reddy assigned portfolios to 11 ministers in his newly formed cabinet. According to a gazette notification issued by the state government, Revanth Reddy has retained the Municipal Administration and Urban Development portfolio along with the General Administration and Law and Order. He will also hold all other unallocated portfolios.
Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu was allocated the Finance and Planning and Energy portfolios. The allocation of the portfolios to the ministers was approved by Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan.
Nalamada Uttam Kumar Reddy was given the Irrigation and Food & Civil Supplies portfolios, while Damodar Rajanarsimha was allocated the Health and Family Welfare as well as the Science and Technology portfolios.
Komatireddy Venkat Reddy will oversee Roads and Buildings and Cinematography, while Duddilla Sridhar Babu will take charge of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications Industries and Commerce and Legislative Affairs departments. Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy has been allocated the Revenue & Housing as well as Information & Public Relations departments.
The Transport and BC Welfare departments were assigned to Ponnam Prabhakar, while Konda Surekha would oversee the Environment and Forests, and Endowment departments.
Danasari Anasuya (Seethakka) will take charge of Panchayat Raj & Rural Development and Women & Child Welfare departments, while Tummala Nageswara Rao was assigned the portfolios of Agriculture, Marketing, Co-operation, as well as Handlooms and Textiles. Jupally Krishna Rao will be the Minister for Prohibition and Excise, and Tourism and Culture departments.
First Cong CM of the youngest Indian state
In the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections, Congress emerged victorious in 64 of the total 119 seats, while the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) was restricted to 39 seats.
The BJP and All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) received eight and seven seats, respectively. On the other hand, the Communist Party of India secured only one seat.
Earlier, as speculations rifed over PCC chief Revanth Reddy becoming the next CM, a few reports claimed that there is opposition with the party on this name. Among those who reportedly opposed the decision include former Telangana Congress chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Bhatti Vikramarka, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, and Damodar Rajanarasimha.
Who is Anumula Revanth Reddy?
Born in Mahboobnagar district, Anumula Revanth Reddy started his career in politics with the ABVP while he was a student. He was also associated with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now changed to Bharat Rashtra Samithi). He was elected as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) as an independent candidate and soon after he joined the N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Reddy has been an MLA thrice, twice from the TDP and once from the Congress, which he joined in 2017.
During the 2018 Telangana Assembly polls, he represented Congress from the Kodangal seat but lost to the BRS candidate. However, Revanth Reddy won from Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 general elections by a margin of 10,919 votes. In 2021, he was appointed as Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president, replacing N Uttam Kumar Reddy. In the 2023 Telangana elections, Reddy was a Congress candidate from Kodangal and Kamareddy Assembly constituencies.
While Reddy won the Kodangal seat by a margin of 32,532, he was defeated by BJP’s K Venkata Ramana Reddy in Kamareddy.