Telangana: Cong MLAs asks Kharge to appoint CLP leader

HYDERABAD: A meeting of the newly-elected Congress MLAs in Telangana on Monday resolved to authorise AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge to appoint the leader of the Congress Legislature Party.

“All members of the Congress’ newly-elected (legsislature) party unanimously resolved to authorise AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge to appoint a Congress Legislative Party leader,” Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar told reporters after a meeting of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP).

The authorisation will be sent to Kharge and the MLAs decided to go by the decision of the party’s top leadership, said Shivakumar, one of the AICC observers appointed to coordinate the CLP meetings.

A Revanth Reddy, the Congress’ state unit chief, moved the resolution and it was seconded by senior MLAs, including Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and D Sridhar Babu, he said.

Congress sources, meanwhile, said the party mulled the idea of organising the swearing-in ceremony of the chief minister on Monday itself but it could not happen as the meetings got delayed.

It may happen in a couple of days as Tuesday is not an auspicious day, they claimed.

Discussions are underway on finalising the Cabinet, the sources added.

After clinching 64 seats in the 119-seat Assembly, a delegation of Congress leaders on Sunday met Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and staked claim to form the government in the state.

Anumula Revanth Reddy, the PCC president who led the Congress’ charge, finds himself on the brink of chief ministership.

Reddy won from Kodangal constituency with a margin of over 32,000 votes defeating his nearest BRS rival Patnam Narender Reddy. The Congress leader however lost from Kamareddy.

The nearly 10 year-old rule of the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) came to an end on Sunday, even as Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao tendered resignation from his post, which was accepted by Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan. Rao was asked to continue in office till the formation of the new government.

BRS has been ruling the state since 2014, when Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh. The Telangana Assembly has a total strength of 119. The BRS has 101 members in the outgoing House, while Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM has 7, Congress 5, BJP 3. The All India Forward Bloc has one legislator. There is one independent while there is one vacancy.