Even as the Congress’s chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Telangana Assembly elections remains uncertain, MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy declared that Sonia Gandhi would make him the CM if the party comes to power. Claiming that his aim was not to merely become a Minister or CM, Venkat Reddy said in the midst of campaigning in Nalgonda, “Sonia Gandhi will even give the CM post to me. There’s no one senior to me here,” he said. He went on to say that he cared more about returning to power as the MLA of Nalgonda, and that he would stand by his constituents if voted back to power this time.
Venkat Reddy, who is currently the MP from Bhongir, is a four-time MLA from Nalgonda, having won the Assembly elections from there in 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014. In 2018, however, he lost to Kancharla Bhupal Reddy of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). He will now face off with him again in the November 30 Assembly election.
“They asked me to contest this election also from Bhongir. But I wanted my old Nalgonda which taught me how to serve people. They said they would definitely make me win. Please make me win from Nalgonda with an even higher majority than in Bhongir (Lok Sabha election)... I promise I will be there for you like a brother and a son,” Venkat Reddy said.
Apart from Venkat Reddy, the names of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief Revanth Reddy and other key leaders such as Uttam Kumar Reddy, Madhu Goud Yaskhi, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Danasari Anasuya (Seethakka) have been floated as possible CM candidates of Congress in the state. In July, Revanth Reddy had claimed that Seethakka could be named CM of Telangana if Congress wins. He made the remark in an interaction with Telugu NRIs in the United States when he was asked whether a Dalit or tribal leader could become the CM of Telangana if Congress was voted to power. Revanth said that while it was not the norm in Congress to announce the CM candidate before the election, Seethakka could be the CM when the occasion was right.
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