HYDERABAD: TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy will take oath as the second chief minister of Telangana at 1.04 pm at the LB Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday, along with some members of his Council of Ministers.
While the exact number of ministers who will be sworn in was not disclosed to the media, it is being speculated that three deputy chief ministers and three to five other leaders will take the oath of office and secrecy along with Revanth. It is also being speculated that the CLP leader in the second Assembly, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, will be one of the deputy chief ministers. However, there was no official confirmation of the names or the number of ministers to take oath till 9 pm on Wednesday.
During the course of the day, the aspirants for the Cabinet posts, including Vikramarka and D Sridhar Babu, held meetings with AICC observer and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and aired their concerns. Other aspirants like Shabbir Ali, K Premsagar Rao, Malreddy Ranga Reddy and P Sudharshan Reddy confabulated with the senior AICC leaders in Delhi.
On his part, Revanth too had a busy day, meeting top AICC leaders, including members of the Gandhi family, and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and inviting them to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
The political developments during the day saw Revanth, who was on his way to the airport to catch his flight back to Hyderabad, being called back by the AICC leadership to further discuss the portfolios to be allotted to the senior leaders who had thrown their hats in the ring for the coveted chief minister’s post. Although the AICC leaders initially made suggestions with regard to the incorporation of the council of ministers, they summoned Revanth again to discuss last-minute changes.
Subsequently, AICC Telangana in-charge Manikrao Thakre convened a meeting with Revanth in Maharashtra Bhavan in Delhi suggesting the changes following the requests from the aspirants. Following this, Revanth caught the evening flight and returned to Hyderabad.
Top leaders to participate
Earlier in the day, when reporters asked Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi whether she would be attending the swearing-in ceremony, she said “probably”.
Apart from Sonia Gandhi, Kharge, former AICC president Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi and KC Venugopal, and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will be attending the ceremony.
Invitations have also been extended to BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao, as well as all the 119 elected MLAs. Despite invitations extended to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, their attendance is uncertain due to Cyclone Michaung.
The TPCC has also extended invitations to presidents of all PCCs, key AICC leaders and District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents.
Open invitation to all
Meanwhile, the chief minister-designate called upon the general public to attend the swearing-in ceremony in large numbers and witness the formation of “Praja Prabhutvam”, or the people’s government. In an open invitation, Revanth expressed the importance of fulfilling the aspirations of martyrs and recognising the fight of students for the establishment of a separate Telangana state, a decision solidified by Sonia Gandhi.
YSR took oath at LB Stadium too
“To provide democratic and transparent governance with the active participation of Dalit, Girijan, weaker sections, minority, farmers, women, and youth, the government will be sworn in on December 7 at 1:04 pm in the LB Stadium. I invite you all to join us for the ceremony,” Revanth’s invitation said. It is worth noting that the LB Stadium was the venue when Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy was sworn in as the chief minister in 2004.
The speculations are rife that MLAs and senior leaders, including Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Damodara Rajanarsimha, Gaddam Vivek, Dhansari Anasuya (Seethakka), Ponnam Prabhakar, Konda Surekha, Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Malreddy Ranga Reddy, Thummala Nageshwara Rao, D Sridhar Babu, Md Ali Shabbir and Jupally Krishna Rao may be included in the Cabinet.