Telangana: Revanth Reddy Sworn In As First Congress Chief Minister

Congress legislature party leader A Revanth Reddy was on Thursday sworn in as Chief Minister of Telangana at a glittering ceremony here which was attended by top Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge.

Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Revanth Reddy and the ministers at LB Stadium in Hyderabad.

Besides Revanth Reddy, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka (Deputy Chief Minister), N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Komatireddy Venkata Reddy, C Damodar Rajanarasimha, D Sridhar Babu, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, Ponnam Prabhakar, Konda Surekha, D Anasuya (popularly known as Seethakka), Tummala Nageswara Rao and Jupally Krishna Rao took oath as ministers.

Senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, his deputy DK Shivakumar, and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu also attended the ceremony.

After taking oath as chief minister, Revanth Reddy signed two files.

They include one pertaining to implementation of six poll 'guarantees' of Congress and another providing a job to a disabled woman as per a promise made to her by Revanth Reddy in the past.

Revanth Reddy, along with his wife, took the blessings of Sonia Gandhi during the event. Sonia Gandhi hugged Seethakka and Surekha who went to her after taking oath as ministers.

Addressing the gathering, Revanth Reddy said the barricades and iron fence around Pragati Bhavan, the chief minister's camp office-cum-official residence, were being dismantled while the swearing-in ceremony was in progress.

The CM's camp office-cum-official residence would be accessible to all henceforth, he said.

Renaming Pragati Bhavan as 'Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan', he said a 'Praja Darbar' would be held at 10 a.m. on Dec. 8.

Alleging that democracy has been a casualty during the past 10 years though Congress had formed Telangana to ensure liberty, social justice and equitable development, he said 'Indiramma Rajyam' (the welfare rule of former PM Indira Gandhi) heralds liberty, social justice and development for the Telangana people.

He also asserted that state's development would compete with the world and the government would function like 'servants' to the people and not as rulers.

Reddy also assured that he would take care of the Congress workers who worked hard in the past 10 years.

The state government will do justice to the families of those who sacrificed their life for the sake of Telangana statehood, as well as the students and unemployed youth, he said.

He urged the gathering to thank, on behalf of the Telangana people, the chief ministers and ministers of others states, senior Congress leaders, MPs, and representatives of parties of the INDIA bloc who attended the event.

Earlier, Sonia Gandhi and Revanth Reddy reached the venue in a open top vehicle, specially decorated with flowers.

Meanwhile, authorities began the process of removing the iron structures put up as fencing in front of the CM's camp office-cum-official residence at Begumpet here.

The AICC leadership had named Revanth Reddy as leader of Congress Legislature Party two days ago.

The Congress wrested power from the Bharat Rashtra Samiti in the recent assembly polls by winning 64 out of the total 119 seats in Telangana.