PCC president A Revanth Reddy took charge as the chief minister of Telangana state. He is the second chief minister of the state after K Chandrasekhar Rao, who was the chief minister for two consecutive terms.
Revanth Reddy also had 11 ministers taking oath along with him on the day and all the 11 ministers were selected by the Congress top leadership. He had no choice in selecting his own team as the Congress has the tradition of imposing the ministers into the cabinet.
While Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka was made deputy chief minister and given the revenue portfolio, another senior leader N Uttam Kumar Reddy was made Home Minister. Komatireddy Venkata Reddy was made Minister for Municipal Administration, while Damodara Rajanarasimha was made Minister for Health and family welfare and Ponnam Prabhakar was made Minister for BC Welfare.
All these five ministers are very seniors in the Congress party, and they have their own Godfathers in the top leadership. In fact, they were the contenders for the chief minister post, which was given to Revanth Reddy, silencing them.
Among these five top senior leaders in the cabinet, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Uttam Kumar Reddy and Venkata Reddy are not going to support the chief minister or may not follow him. They might be taking their own decisions even without informing the chief minister. They would also be acting as chief ministers of the state.
It is going to be tough for Revanth Reddy to handle these three ministers. Damodara Rajanarasimha and Ponnam Prabhakar might surrender to Revanth Reddy. While Damodara Rajanarasimha is a soft and cool leader, Ponnam is somewhat junior and not an aggressive dissident. These two may not cause any inconvenience to the chief minister, but the other three might cause some problems to Revanth Reddy.
It is to be seen how Revanth Reddy would handle them. There are another five ministers likely to be taken into the cabinet. Among these five, Revanth Reddy would have the chance to pick up from his own team that might have some help to him. Portfolios like Finance are still pending and will be given to his own men.
