Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy took down the iron barricades in front of his official residence minutes after taking charge, fulfilling a key promise of his campaign. Even before the oath-taking ceremony had finished, there was frantic activity at the Pragathi Bhavan in Hyderabad, the Chief Minister’s official residence.
Several bulldozers, tractors and construction workers were seen outside the residence uprooting the iron rods. During his intense poll campaign, Mr Reddy had said that he would remove the barricades if Congress came to power.
Earlier today, Revanth Reddy replaced K Chandrashekar Rao as the Chief Minister of India’s youngest state. The 54-year-old is only the second chief minister who has been at the helm of Telangana since its birth in 2014. Mr Reddy is known among fellow politicians and party workers for his never-say-die attitude.
The swearing-in ceremony was held at Hyderabad’s LB Stadium, days after the Congress registered a comfortable win in last month’s Assembly election. Eleven of Mr Reddy’s colleagues took their oath with him, including Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, a chief ministerial aspirant who was sworn in as deputy chief minister.
Mr Reddy and his cabinet now face the daunting task of managing the bleak coffers and fulfilling the “six guarantees” that the Congress party made during the run-up to the elections. The Congress’s robust campaign highlighting the six guarantees is said to have been one of the reasons for the party’s victory. However, finding the funds to fulfill them will be a herculean task.
The most attractive among the “six” is free travel for women in Telangana State Road Transport Corporation buses.