With no word from the Congress leadership on who will be the Chief Minister of Telangana apparently due to lack of consensus among newly-elected MLAs, the plans for swearing-in ceremony were put on hold on Monday.
A meeting of newly-elected MLAs earlier in the day had authorised party President Mallikarjun Kharge to name the leader of Congress Legislature Party (CLP).
However, till late Monday there was no announcement from the leadership, giving tense moments to supporters of state unit chief A. Revanth Reddy, who is the front-runner for the top post.
Worried over the delay in announcement by the party, some supporters of Revanth Reddy staged a protest outside Raj Bhavan, demanding that he be sworn-in as the Chief Minister. The police had to disperse them.
All arrangements were made at Raj Bhavan amid the buzz that Revanth Reddy will be taking oath as the Chief Minister on Monday evening. Officials of the General Administration Department and protocol had reached Raj Bhavan and made all arrangements for the swearing in Durbar Hall.
However, the plans had to be put on hold as there was no official word from the party. The officials later left Raj Bhavan.
Earlier, to pave the way for the swearing-in of the new Chief Minister, Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan had dissolved the second Legislative Assembly while a gazette notification was issued, constituting the new Assembly.
The notification was issued after Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj and Election Commission Secretary Avinash Kumar submitted the list of elected MLAs to the Governor.
According to a communique from the Governor’s office consequent to the resolution by the Council of Ministers recommending the dissolution of the Second Legislative Assembly of Telangana, she dissolved the Assembly in exercise of the powers conferred on her by the Constitution.
It was expected that a delegation of Congress leaders would call on the Governor, informing her about the name of the leader of the CLP and request her to invite him to take oath as the Chief Minister.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and AICC observer D. K. Shivakumar, who was camping in Hyderabad since Friday, left for Delhi to apprise the high command of the views of the newly-elected MLAs.
After the CLP meeting, he along with other observers Deepa Das Munshi, Dr Ajoy Kumar, K.J. George and K. Muraleedharan held individual meetings with all 64 legislators to take their opinion.
A meeting of the MLAs unanimously passed a resolution authorising Kharge to name the leader.
“All the MLAs unanimously resolved to authorise AICC president Shri Mallikarjun Kharge to appoint Congress Legislature Party leader,” Shivakumar told media persons after the meeting.
He said the resolution was moved by Revanth Reddy and seconded by Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Uttam Kumar Reddy, Damodar Raja Narasimha, Sridhar Babu and others.
Shivakumar said they all decided that they will go by the decision of the party. He also told the media that they will also meet all the legislators independently and take their opinion.
While Revanth Reddy is the front-runner for the Chief Minister’s post, senior leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka who was the CLP leader in the dissolved Assembly, former state chief Uttam Kumar Reddy and former Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha are seen as the other contenders for the post.