While leaders like Bhatti, Uttam have grudgingly accepted Revanth Reddy as CM choice, disagreements over DyCM, key portfolios cause delay.
Published Dec 05, 2023 | 11:08 AM ⚊ Updated Dec 05, 2023 | 11:08 AM
Other prominent leaders such as Bhatti Vikramraka, Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy have not had their demands met, causing a delay in the formation of the new government. (Supplied)
The delay in announcing the chief minister candidate in Telangana is not due to differences over party state chief A Revanth Reddy’s candidature for the top post, but it is due to disagreements over who will be the deputy chief ministers, and accommodating various contenders within the government.
Contrary to several reports that senior leaders of Telangana Congress — such as former Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Bhatti Vikramarka, Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkata Reddy — are opposed to Revanth Reddy becoming chief minister, highly placed sources in Congress told South First that there is no difference of opinion on this count.
During the Telangana CLP meeting on Monday, 4 November, in Hyderabad, there was in fact a consensus on naming Revanth Reddy as both the CLP chief and chief ministerial candidate.
However, prominent leaders such as Bhatti Vikramarka, Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Komatireddy Venkats Reddy have not had their demands met, causing a delay in the formation of the new government.
Out of 64 members present at the meeting at Ellaa Hotel in Hyderabad, 40 preferred Revanth Reddy for the chief minister’s post, while others remained neutral or opposed.
One proposal from the high command was having four deputy chief ministers, each representing the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Backward Class (BC), and minorities. However, Revanth Reddy objected to this, expressing concerns that it would create too many power centres and complicate administration.
Leaders like Bhatti, Uttam, and Venkata Reddy argued that since they were accepting Revanth Reddy as the chief minister, their demands should be addressed.
Uttam is seeking the Home and Panchayat Raj portfolio, while Bhatti wants Home and Finance, and the high command proposed the IT ministry to Venkata Reddy, who refused and is instead vying for Municipal Administration or Irrigation.
The post of Speaker was offered to Sridhar Babu, but he declined, preferring to remain an MLA.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Telangana Manikrao Thakare and special observer and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, arrived in Delhi on Monday night after gathering opinions from all MLAs and leaders.
They are scheduled to meet AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi today (Tuesday) to present the report of the CLP meeting. The meeting with the AICC chief was set to take place at his residence around noon.
Simultaneously, both Bhatti and Uttam also reached Delhi on Tuesday morning. Kharge has indicated that the leadership issue will be resolved by evening.
Initially, it was anticipated that a decision would be reached by Monday evening, and the swearing-in ceremony would take place at Raj Bhavan on the same night. However, later in the evening, the party high command instructed Shivakumar and other observers to travel to New Delhi for further consultations.
Meanwhile, the newly elected MLAs are continuing to stay at a private hotel in Gachibowli. There is speculation that if there is a delay in the Congress high command deciding on the chief minister’s post, the MLAs may be moved to Karnataka.
Earlier, on Monday, the CLP meeting left the choice of its leader — effectively the next chief minister of Telangana — to the party’s national president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The party’s state unit chief Revanth Reddy — considered the frontrunner for the post — himself proposed the one-line resolution leaving the choice of the CLP leader to Kharge.
