The Congress legislature party in Telangana met on Monday morning and authorised party president Mallikarjun Kharge to appoint the new leader of the House, who will be the chief minister.
Karnataka deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar and the central leadership’s minder for Telangana, Manikrao Thakare, were among those assigned by the party high command to oversee the selection of the new leader. They were present at the CLP meeting, held at a hotel in Hyderabad.
Shivakumar later told reporters that at the meeting, Telangana Congress president Revanth Reddy proposed that Kharge be authorised to pick the new leader, and everyone agreed.
A Telangana Congress functionary who declined to be named told The Telegraph that the CLP meeting was held in a hurry to avert any leadership tussle.
Revanth Reddy, who has a reputation as a mass leader, is not the only contender for the chief minister’s post. The party’s floor leader in the outgoing Assembly, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, is among the others eyeing the top job.
While Vikramarka’s absence from Revanth Reddy’s post-victory news conference on Sunday evening had caused murmurs, he laid all speculation to rest on Monday by attending the CLP meeting.
Revanth Reddy is said to have suggested Vikramarka’s name for deputy chief minister, clearly to avoid any complications to his elevation to the chief minister’s office.
The party source said Revanth Reddy had the support of the majority of CLP members.
“More than 30 of the 64 newly elected MLAs are first-timers who owe much to Revanth Reddy. So, it is very unlikely that he will face any significant challenge to the top post,” the source said.
While all the newly elected party legislators had arrived at the CLP meeting venue by 10am, the meeting started only after Shivakumar arrived a little before noon. He had apparently been caught up in consultations with the party leadership.
A party source privy to Monday’s developments told The Telegraph that Shivakumar took a late evening flight to Delhi and is likely to meet Kharge “either late tonight, if time permits, or tomorrow (Tuesday).”
“He will brief the party president on the feedback from all the MLAs with whom he held one-to-one discussions today in Hyderabad on who they thought should be their leader,” said the source. He said the name of the CLP leader would “most likely” be announced on Tuesday.
“The tentative date for swearing in the new chief minister is Thursday. But it’s not yet clear if how many, or any, cabinet members would be sworn in along with him,” he added.
