54-year-old Revanth Reddy, who was the architect of the Congress party's campaign in Telangana, is now been tasked to build the party's reign in the state after recording a phenomenal victory in what remained an elusive state for a decade. With a triumph, the Congress party, under the leadership of Revanth Reddy in the state, has marred the hat-trick dream of K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), who ruled the state for ten years. 

Telangana is the young state in India and it got bifurcated from Andhra Pradesh in 2014 when the Congress party was in power in the centre. Since bifurcation, Telangana was ruled by KCR's Bharatiya Rashtri Samiti (BRS), formerly known as Telangana Rashtri Samiti. KCR's political momentum made the state elusive for both the national parties, BJP and the Congress. 

When Telangana prepared for the assembly polls, the anti-incumbency wave, heir politics, and a fresh following for the Congress party remained top troubles for KCR, whom the Congress branded as BJP's proxy in the state. Armed with Rahul Gandhi's growing national influence and with voters' notion to seek a change, the Congress party had successfully sowed it as an alternative in the state, taking its historical victory in neighbouring Karnataka as an added advantage. 

Amidst the campaigns from the national leaders, Congress state unit chief Revanth Reddy had tirelessly led the party's campaign in the state and his leadership reaped a good following from across the state. In a state where the party had downfalls, Reddy was instrumental to build back and to change the state as party's new fortress. The direct race in the assembly polls was between the BRS and the Congress, while BJP displayed its presence sporadically.

The polls in Telangana were held on November 3 and the state recorded a voter turnout of 71.34. Both the direct rivals KCR and Revanth Reddy had contested in two seats each, vying face to face in Kamareddy. Telangana has 119 seats and the majority mark is 60. The results were declared on December 3 and they aligned to what most of the exit polls predicted - Congress will establish its rule with a clear majority and that BRS would end up as the opposition. 

Eventually, the Congress party had secured 64 seats, four seats more than the majority mark, while the BRS had got 39 seats and KCR had endured a setback for his political infrastructure. Though losing the baton to power, KCR ended up winning his stronghold seat of Gajwel, which he has held since 2014. In Kamareddy where KCR and Revanth Reddy contested against each other, both of them lost the seat to BJP's KV Ramana Reddy. 

On the other hand, the Congress party's Revanth Reddy won from Kodangal constituency with a margin of over 32,000 votes and his victory had increased his prospect of becoming the next Chief Minister. According to reports, most of the Congress leaders in the state and in the high command favoured Reddy's candidature and complimented his leadership that played vital role in party's victory.

On Tuesday - December 5, the party's central leadership has officially announced that Revanth Reddy will be the Chief Minister of Telangana. All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary KC Venugopal made the announcement that Revanth Reddy will be the Chief Minister and that he will take oath on Thursday - December 7. The announcement has come after a meeting of top leaders in New Delhi. 

Venugopal said, "After considering the report of observers and after discussion with senior leaders, the Congress president has decided to go with Revanth Reddy as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Telangana." The meeting had held at the residence of Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and it also attended by senior leader Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, and Telangana Congress in-charge Manikrao Thakre. 

Earlier this Monday, a meeting of the newly-elected Congress MLAs had resolved to authorise Kharge to appoint the leader of the CLP. The resolution was moved by Revanth Reddy and it was supported by two senior Congress MLAs. With an official announcement, Revanth Reddy will be taking oath as Telangana's second Chief Minister on Thursday and the oath will be administered by Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan.  

Revanth Reddy's political peak in short time 

Revanth Reddy's association with the Congress party is just six years old. He joined the party in 2017 following his defection from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Within six years, he had a swift rise in the party, from serving as an MP, working president to state unit's president, he is all set to become the Chief Minister. Reddy's significant strength comes from a mass following, especially among the young people. He has cemented a strong political base in the party and became the face of the party in defeating KCR's citadel and his dream of winning a third term. 

Interestingly, Revanth Reddy was a member of ABVP, BJP's student wing, while he was a student. After getting elected to the local body in 2006, he became a Member of Legislative Council (MLC) as an independent candidate in 2007. Reddy then joined TDP after meeting its chief N Chandrababu Naidu. In 2009, he was elected to the Andhra Pradesh assembly from Kodangal as a TDP candidate. 

Reddy served as an MLA in the Andhra Pradesh assembly between 2009 and 2014 and in Telangana assembly between 2014 and 2018 and went on to become TDP's floor leader in Telangana assembly. However, in October 2017, TDP removed him as the floor leader based on the reports claiming that he was considering joining the Congress party. As per the reports, he joined the Congress, a week after getting expelled from the TDP. 

He contested in 2018 Telangana assembly polls from Kodangal as a Congress candidate only to get defeated by the candidate of the then TRS party. Despite the defeat, Congress appointed Reddy as one of the three working presidents of the state unit in the same year. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Reddy successfully contested and won from the Malkajgiri constituency by defeating the TRS candidate and entered the Parliament for the first time. 

Two years later, Reddy was appointed as the president of the Telangana Congress unit. His new political peak came with a new responsibility to build the party for the 2023 assembly polls. Reddy was instrumental in reviving the beleaguering Congress party in the state to a level where it had won the elections and is all set to form a new government with a clear majority. Reddy is gearing up for his new role, becoming the new face for the Congress party both at the state and national levels.