The freshly elected Telangana MLAs met in Hyderabad and approved a resolution allowing Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of the party, to select a new chief minister. Twenty-four hours after the Congress defeated K Chandrasekhar Rao’s BRS, sources told NDTV on Monday afternoon that there is no agreement inside the party on the next Telangana chief minister. Revanth Reddy, the leader of the state unit of the Congress, who is credited with directing the party’s victory, became a strong contender for the top position shortly after the election results were confirmed. The fiery 54-year-old, a former member of the BJP’s youth wing and the BRS, does, however, have some detractors in the party, which is thought to have raised some concerns over his potential nomination. “… we will take a call (based) on the report submitted by the observers (but) Revanth Reddy is the clear front-runner,” said sources suggesting that Mr. Reddy is the top choice.
From Kodangal, Mr. Reddy ran for this election and was elected. He also ran from Kamareddy, where he faced off against KCR in a well-publicized bout that had an unexpected conclusion. KV Ramana Reddy of the BJP beat them both, coming out as a giant-killer. Others, however, stated that the swearing-in event, which was reportedly scheduled for this evening, has been rescheduled “until the Chief Minister is decided.” Additionally, according to these sources, Congressman Mallikarjun Kharge will not reveal a candidate until after consulting with the party’s election observers, which comprises DK Shivakumar, the deputy chief minister of Karnataka. According to sources, the observers are scheduled to arrive in Delhi on Tuesday. Concurrently, the recently elected MLAs of the party convened in Hyderabad, and predictably, they approved a resolution granting Mr. Kharge the authority to select a new Chief Minister.
At least two more people could run for the top position in the state administration, and everyone wishing to take over as chief minister after K Chandrasekhar Rao is also putting pressure on the higher authorities. One is the Dalit leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who was a well-known figure in the campaign. Mr. Vikramarka conducted a 1,400 kilometre statewide foot march prior to the election, which helped him comprehend the concerns of the electorate. According to sources, the yatra of the 62-year-old leader was crucial to the Congress’ victory. One more is Uttam Kumar Reddy, a former Air Force pilot and seven-time MLA who led the Congress as state president till Revanth Reddy took over. After being completely destroyed by the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, the Congress found some solace in their triumph in Telangana. With 64 seats, the party exceeded the majority threshold. With 88 seats in 2018, the BRS won the majority in the state; this time, it only managed 39. Despite winning only eight of the 111 seats it contested, the BJP did better than it did in 2018. Additionally, the party saw an almost 14% increase in its vote share, up from 6.98%.
