Revanth Reddy

Revanth Reddy
CM Revanth Reddy at Gaddar Awards 2025
2nd Chief Minister of Telangana
Assumed office
7 December 2023
Governor
DeputyMallu Bhatti Vikramarka
CabinetReddy
Preceded byK. Chandrashekar Rao
Additional ministries
Assumed office
7 December 2023
Ministry and Departments
  • Municipal Administration & Urban Development
  • General Administration
  • Law & Order
  • All other departments not allocated to any other Minister
Preceded by
3rd President of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee
In office
7 July 2021 – 6 September 2024
AICC President
Preceded byN. Uttam Kumar Reddy
Succeeded byBomma Mahesh Kumar Goud
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
23 May 2019 – 8 December 2023
Preceded byMalla Reddy
Succeeded byEtela Rajendar
ConstituencyMalkajgiri, Telangana
Member of Telangana Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
7 December 2023
Preceded byPatnam Narender Reddy
ConstituencyKodangal
In office
2 June 2014 – 11 December 2018
Preceded byconstituency shifted from Andhra Pradesh
Succeeded byPatnam Narender Reddy
ConstituencyKodangal
Member of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly
In office
16 May 2009 – 16 May 2014
Preceded byGurunath Reddy
Succeeded byconstituency shifted to Telangana
ConstituencyKodangal
Member of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council
In office
2007–2009
ChairmanA. Chakrapani
Deputy ChairmanMohammed Jani
Leader of the HouseY. S. Rajasekhara Reddy
ConstituencyMahboobnagar
Personal details
BornAnumula Revanth Reddy
(1969-11-08) 8 November 1969 (age 57)
Kondareddipalle, Andhra Pradesh, India
PartyIndian National Congress (since 2017)
Other political
affiliations
Telugu Desam Party (2007–2017)
Spouse
Geetha Reddy
​
(m. 1992)​
Children1
EducationAndhra Vidyalaya College (B.A.)
OccupationPolitician
Websiterevanthreddy.com

Anumula Revanth Reddy (born 8 November 1969) is an Indian politician who is serving as the second and current chief minister of Telangana. He is also the state minister for municipal administration and urban development, general administration and law & order. As a member of the Indian National Congress, he is the current Member of the Legislative Assembly for Kodangal.

He previously represented Malkajgiri as a member of parliament in the Lok Sabha. Appointed president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee in July 2021, he led his party to victory in the 2023 Telangana Legislative Assembly election, defeating the incumbent Bharat Rashtra Samithi party.

Early and personal life

Anumula Revanth Reddy was born on 8 November 1969 in Konda Reddy Pally of Mahboobnagar, Andhra Pradesh (present-day Nagarkurnool, Telangana), India. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Andhra Vidyalaya College, Osmania University, Hyderabad. Reddy married Getha, former union minister Jaipal Reddy's niece. The couple have a daughter.

Political career

Early political career

Revanth Reddy was a member of ABVP, an RSS affiliated organization, while he was a student. In 2006, he contested the local body election and was elected as ZPTC member from Midjil mandal as an independent candidate.

In 2007, Reddy was elected as a Member of Legislative Council (MLC) as an independent candidate. Later, he met Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu and joined the TDP.

Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA)

In 2009, Revanth was elected to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly from Kodangal constituency with 46.46% votes as a TDP candidate. He won against the incumbent and five-time MLA, Gurunath Reddy of Congress (INC). He served as an MLA in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly between 2009 and 2014 and in Telangana Assembly, between 2014 and 2018.

He contested the 2014 undivided Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections and was elected to the Telangana Assembly from Kodangal with a majority of 14,614 votes against Gurunath Reddy. He was elected as the floor leader of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the Telangana Legislative Assembly.

On 25 October 2017, TDP removed him as the floor leader of the Telangana TDP after reports surfaced that he would consider joining the Congress party. On 31 October 2017, he formally joined the Congress party.

He contested the 2018 Telangana Assembly elections from Kodangal as an Indian National Congress (INC) candidate and lost to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) candidate, Patnam Narender Reddy, marking his first defeat in an election. On 20 September 2018, he was appointed one of the three working presidents of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC), replacing N. Uttam Kumar Reddy.

Member of Parliament (MP)

Following his defeat in the 2018 Telangana legislative assembly election, Reddy successfully contested the 2019 general election from the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency as a Congress candidate, by a margin of 10,919 votes, constituting 38.63% of the total votes. He defeated his closest competitor, Marri Rajashekar Reddy from BRS.

2023 Telangana Assembly election campaign

In June 2021, Reddy was appointed president of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee, replacing N. Uttam Kumar Reddy. He took on the new role from 7 July 2021.

He led the Congress' successful campaigning against the incumbent Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao in 2023 Telangana Legislative Assembly election with the party winning 64 seats, 4 seats past the majority mark. He contested from Kodangal and Kamareddy constituencies, winning in the former seat and losing in the latter. After his earlier wins from Kodangal constituency in 2009 and 2014, he is representing the constituency for the third time.

Chief Minister of Telangana

All India Congress Committee (AICC) named Reddy as the leader of Congress Legislature Party, following the elected MLAs' resolution authorising the AICC to nominate the leader, paving way for him to become the Chief Minister of Telangana. On 7 December 2023, he took oath as the Chief Minister of Telangana, making him the second person to hold the post.

In the first ten days of his governance, the government launched 2 of his 6 "guarantees", the free bus travel for women and insurance under the 'Arogyasri' scheme was increased to ₹10 lakh. Its 'Praja Palana' outreach program receives over 1.05 crore applications, covering as many as 1.11 crore households. In July, another guarantee, the crop loan waiver was passed, with the Telangana government releasing ₹31,000 crore for it. The waiver was set to benefit around 40 lakh farmers across the state.

In May 2024, he was summoned by the Delhi Police after the Telangana Congress shared a doctored video of Amit Shah on its Twitter handle. He denied any role in the creation or the dissemination of the video.

Chief Minister of Telangana Shri Revanth Reddy sitting with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi in New Delhi on 4th July, 2024
Revanth Reddy calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2024

In celebrations of 10 years of Telangana achieving statehood, his government celebrated it on a grand scale on 2 June 2024.

He met with Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Amit Shah and J. P. Nadda in July 2024, in order to expedite pending infrastructure works and to release funds for other state works. He also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested him to allot the Sravanapalli coal mining block to the PSU Singareni Collieries Company.

In August 2024, he took part in a tour of the United States in a bid to get more companies to invest in Telangana. Many companies, including Amgen and Charles Schwab agreed to open offices in Hyderabad.

As Chief Minister, he was vocal against residential and commercial properties encroaching on lakes and other water bodies. In July 2024, the Telangana government formed the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Monitoring and Protection Agency (HYDRAA) to take care of such issues. He wanted HYDRAA to be developed as a strong system and was ready to allocate parts of the state budget for it. In August 2024, HYDRAA had begun to take down multiple under-construction and fully constructed structures which encroached on various water bodies in Hyderabad, including a convention centre owned by actor Nagarjuna. The body received a lot of public support for protecting the city's lakes and ponds. Under his tenure as CM, Telangana Rising 2047 Vision Document has been prepared which has created three distinct economic zones. - CURE (Core Urban Region Economy, for Services Sector Only, with Net Zero) - PURE (Peri-Urban Region Economy, for manufacturing) - RARE (Rural Agri Region Economy) in Telangana.

Electoral history

He was elected as the ZPTC from Midjil in 2006 and as an independent MLC in 2007 through elections by local bodies from Mahabubnagar.

Legislative Assembly Elections

Year Constituency Party Votes % Opponent Opponent Party Opponent Votes % Result Margin %
2023 Kamareddy INC 54,916 28.47 K. V. Ramana Reddy BJP 66,652 34.55 Lost -11,736 -6.08
Kodangal 107,429 55.05 Patnam Narender Reddy BRS 75,897 38.38 Won +31,532 +16.67
2018 71,435 43.15 TRS 80,754 48.78 Lost -9,319 -5.63
2014 TDP 54,026 39.06 Gurunath Reddy 39,412 28.50 Won +14,614 +10.56
2009 61,685 46.45 INC 54,696 41.49 Won +6,989 +4.96

Parliament: Lok Sabha

Year Constituency Party Votes % Opponent Opponent Party Opponent Votes % Result Margin %
2019 Malkajgiri INC 603,748 38.63 Marri Rajasekhar Reddy TRS 592,829 37.93 Won 10,919 0.70

Assembly, Parliament and Local Authorities Elections

YearConstituencyConstituency TypeWinner (Candidate)PartyVotes%Runner-up (Main Opponent)PartyVotes%Majority
2007MahbubnagarLocal Authorities (MLC)A. Revanth ReddyInd———INC———
2009KodangalAssembly (MLA)A. Revanth ReddyTDP61,68546.45%Gurunath ReddyINC54,69641.19%6,989
2014KodangalAssembly (MLA)A. Revanth ReddyTDP54,02639.06%Gurunath ReddyTRS39,41228.50%14,614
2018KodangalAssembly (MLA)Patnam Narender ReddyTRS80,75449.03%A. Revanth ReddyINC71,43543.37%9,319
2019MalkajgiriParliament (MP)A. Revanth ReddyINC603,74838.63%Marri Rajashekar ReddyTRS592,82937.93%10,919
2023KodangalAssembly (MLA)A. Revanth ReddyINC107,42955.02%Patnam Narender ReddyBRS74,89738.36%32,532
KamareddyAssembly (MLA)K. V. Ramana ReddyBJP66,65235.58%K. Chandrashekar RaoBRS60,01132.04%6,641

Overseas engagements

In June 2009, when Indian students were being attacked in Australia, then Telugu Desam leaders Reddy and Nama Nageswara Rao had visited Melbourne, Australia to meet with International students from India. Reddy had visited hospitals, and travelled in trains and public transport in Melbourne to meet victims, and interact with Indian students in Australia, to get a better understanding of the situation.

Reddy visited the Victorian Parliament and met with then Victorian Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu to raise concerns about attacks on Indian students in Melbourne, Australia.

In July 2009, Baillieu later visited Delhi, India, where he had a follow-up meeting with Reddy on the same issue.

Controversies

Arrest for bribery

On 31 May 2015, Revanth Reddy was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Andhra Pradesh during a sting operation, for bribing nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson to vote in favour of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate in the legislative council election. A criminal case under sections of Prevention of Corruption Act and Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code was registered against him along with two others – Bishop Sebastian Harry and Uday Simha. On 30 June, the Telangana High Court gave conditional bail. TDP party members celebrated Revanth Reddy's release on 1 July 2015 with a rally. He spent 30 days in jail. Due to the involvement of a TDP MLA, it was suspected that TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu was the main man behind the scam.

In May 2021, when he was a Lok Sabha MP, the Enforcement Directorate filed a chargesheet against him in connection with the scam. In October 2023, 2 months before the 2023 Telangana Legislative Assembly election, the Supreme Court dismissed his plea challenging the ACB court's decision to reject his request in 2021. In February 2024, the Supreme Court heard an appeal and transferred the case to a trial court outside Telangana to ensure that a fair trial takes place. In April 2024, it deferred a hearing until July.

See also