With no unanimous consensus, Congress delays naming Revanth Reddy as Telangana Chief Minister

HYDERABAD: Just a day after winning the Telangana Assembly elections with 64 MLAs in the 119-seat Assembly, the Congress is yet to arrive at a consensus on who will be nominated as the next Chief Minister of the State.

While it was widely speculated that the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Revanth Reddy would be unanimously nominated for the post, 24 hours after the election results, it has become apparent that are other contenders for the top job.

On Monday, the Congress had organised its legislative party meeting here at a private hotel to decide on the Chief Ministerial candidate. The MLAs however passed a resolution asking the All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge' to take the final call.

It was expected that the decision would be arrived at by afternoon and the Chief Ministerial candidate could also be sworn in by evening.

But it looks like all is not hunky dory and the Congress high command is yet to take call on finalising the name of Telangana's next Chief Minister.

On Tuesday, Mallikarjun Kharge will meet the party's election observers which includes Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. These observers were part of the meeting here on Monday and would now fly to New Delhi to appraise the high command. It is only after the meeting the observers that the Congress would officially name it's Chief Minister.

Apart from Revanth Reddy, Madhira MLA Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka is also in the running as one of the contenders for the top job.

Before the elections, Bhatti undertook a 1,400 km State-wide padayatra to understand voters' concerns which played a key role in the victory of the Congress.

While Bhatti is also the legislative party leader of the State, there are many leaders who have proposed his name as he is quite approachable. Another reason stated by a few Congress leaders for nominating him for the top job is because he is known to not take unilateral decisions, a quality attributed to Revanth Reddy.

Apart from Bhatti, Huzurnagar MLA Uttam Kumar Reddy also figures in the list of nominees. There are voices in the party that Uttam should be offered the Chief Minister's role as he has been with the party for a long time unlike Revanth who hasn't even completed 10 years in the Congress.

Now all eyes are on the meeting in New Delhi where observers would appraise Mallikarjun Kharge on the choice of Telangana's Chief Minister. Meanwhile, it is been speculated that once the Chief Minister's name is finalised, the oath taking ceremony would be held on December 7. The next couple of days are not considered auspicious. Along with the Chief Minister, it is expected that a few Cabinet leaders would also be sworn in on that day.