HYDERABAD: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday appointed Malkajgiri MP and firebrand leader A Revanth Reddy as the new president of Telangana Congress Committee to revive and lead the party to victory in 2023 assembly polls.
Despite granting statehood to Telangana, Congress has been losing elections and the party high command has chosen Revanth to get the Congress back to winning ways in this Telugu state.
Revanth, who joined the Congress in October 2017, got the post bypassing all the senior leaders, loyalists and veterans in the party with the AICC leadership being told that he has the charisma and commitment to revive the party in Telangana and bring it to power in 2023.
Also, that the firebrand leader has the tone, tenor and language to take on TRS president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and BJP state president Bandi Sanjay.
“Revanth is the right choice and perfect answer to the TRS and BJP,” said former minister Mohd Ali Shabbir.
Though senior leaders had opposed his candidature stating he comes from RSS background and was a leader of ABVP in his student days, what worked in his favour is that a majority of party office-bearers including TPCC vice-presidents, general secretaries, district presidents, former ministers, MPs and MLAs spoke in favour of Revanth in the consultation exercise done by AICC incharge of Telangana, Manickam Tagore.
However, some of the senior leaders alleged that this consultation process was stage managed by Revanth.
Sources did not rule out the possibility of some of the leaders, unhappy with the development leaving the party.
Revanth has multiple challenges of stopping the exodus from the party, minimizing infighting, take on the ruling TRS and a resurgent BJP and re-establish the party’s connect with voters.
And all this even as the money laundering and cash-for-vote scam case is being investigated against him by Enforcement Directorate and ACB.
Revanth, who was TPCC working president, succeeds N Uttam Kumar Reddy who headed the state Congress unit since March 2015.
Former Indian cricket captain Mohd Azharuddin has been named one of the six working presidents.
Veteran Congressman and former MP V Hanumanth Rao had openly expressed opposition to Revanth Reddy saying that the former TDP MLA should not be allowed to lead the party and it would be disastrous to the organisation itself.
Among others, Hanumanth Rao considered that he was the right choice for the party president’s post in Telangana.
Sangareddy MLA Jagga Reddy was also in the forefront of asking that he be appointed as president.
Bhuvanagiri MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy was also in the fray.
In the last couple of years, the aspirants had made a beeline to Delhi to impress upon the party leadership about why they would be suitable for the post.
Some, it is learnt, also went to give their opinion about why certain persons should not be considered for the post.
Some had tried to block Revanth Reddy’s appointment, telling the party leadership that he would not be the right choice.
Revanth’s immediate challenge will be to lead the party in the poll that will be held to the Huzurabad assembly seat following the resignation of former health minister Eatala Rajendar, who later joined the BJP.
In the 2018 assembly elections, Revanth had campaigned for the Congress party in different constituencies but was unable to retain his Kondangal seat.
Nevertheless, the party fielded him in the Lok Sabha elections the following year in 2019 and he won from Malkajgiri.
The talk about party leadership began in 2018 itself after the Congress could not fare well in the assembly polls.
As speculation began that Uttam Kumar Reddy would be replaced, he himself announced openly that he had submitted his resignation to the party leadership and said it was free to replace him anytime.
In the 2019 elections, Uttam Kumar Reddy got elected to the Lok Sabha from Nalgonda.
Revanth Reddy began his career in politics by first being associated with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
In 2006 he was elected as ZPTC member from Midjil mandal but his political career got wings when the TDP’s N Chandrababu Naidu gave him a party ticket to contest from the Kodangal assembly seat in 2007 which he won three times in a row.