Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Anumula Revanth Reddy has been named the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in Telangana, paving the way for him to the next chief minister of the state, senior Congress leader KC Venugopal told the media on Tuesday, 5 December.
Revanth and a few other Cabinet ministers will take oath on Thursday, 7 December, the AICC general secretary said.
Earlier on Tuesday, a senior Congress leader from Telangana confirmed to The Quint that Revanth has been chosen as the next chief minister of the state.
"Today at noon, DK Shivakumar and Manikrao Thakare submitted a detailed report with their observations made during the CLP meeting. After going through the report and discussions with senior leadership, the Congress president has decided to go with TPCC chief Revanth Reddy as the new CLP of Telangana Legislative Party."KC Venugopal
Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka and senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar later told the media that Revanth's elevation was a "unanimous decision."
The Congress, which made a surprising comeback in the state by defeating K Chandrasekhar Rao's Bharat Rashtra Samithi, took about two days to arrive at a consensus on the chief minister post.
Opposition from senior leaders like Uttam Kumar Reddy, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, and Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy against Revanth's elevation as CM had delayed the process, according to reports.
On Monday, 4 December, it was reported that arrangements were made at Raj Bhavan for the swearing-in ceremony of the chief minister in the evening. That, however, was postponed owing to a lack of consensus.
Revanth Was Not the Only Contender
The CLP held a meeting on Monday, wherein it was unanimously decided that the decision to choose the chief minister would be left to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Later, the individual opinions of the 64 Congress MLAs were taken. As per a report by The Times of India, some MLAs suggested the names of Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Sridhar Babu for the CM post. The majority, however, chose Revanth Reddy.
Speaking to the media on Monday, TPCC spokesperson Addanki Dayakar said after the CLP meeting:
"They took the personal opinions of MLAs, but the AICC decision will be final. Revanth ji is the favoured leader. Four to five ministers will be first decided, then after 9 December, we will announce the whole Cabinet. There is some competition for the CM post, but ultimately they are tilted towards Revanth Reddy."
DK Shivakumar and AICC Telangana in-charge Manikrao Thakare then travelled to Delhi to further discuss the matter with the high command, where it was reportedly decided that Revanth would be the next chief minister. Uttam Kumar Reddy or Bhatti Vikramarka may be given the post of deputy CM.
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