Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to appoint Telangana CM, says Shivakumar

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Congress legislature party (CLP) meeting of the newly elected MLAs was conducted in Hyderabad's Gandhi Bhawan on Monday. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, State Congress Chief Revanth Reddy, Karnataka Minister KJ George, Congress Leader Deepa Das Munshi and other AICC observers were part of the meeting.

Post the meeting, Congress leader DK Shivakuamar stated that all the newly elected MLAs have authorized Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to appoint the Congress legislature party leader, newswire ANI reported.

"All the members of the newly elected Congress party unanimously resolved to authorise Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to appoint the Congress legislature party leader. All have decided that whatever the high command decides, we will go by that", said Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

Shivakumar also thanked the people of Telangana for voting in large number in the favour of Congress. "We thank the people of the state for allowing us to form our government here", he said.

Meanwhile, Congress leader and former member of Rajya Sabha V Hanumantha Rao predicted that Revanth reddy could be the next Chief Minister of Telangana.

When asked about the potential Chief Ministerial face in Telangana, Congress leader V. Hanumantha Rao said, "We will have to see what is decided in the CLP meeting. Most probably, Revanth Reddy has chances to become the Chief Minister going by all the work he did."

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Former state minister Konda Surekha also batted for the state Congress Chief Revanth Reddy as the Chief Minister. "Congress party is going to form the government in the state and the TPCC president A Revanth Reddy is going to take the Chief Minister post with the high command blessing," Konda Surekha told ANI.

Whereas, Congress leader Komatireddy Venkat Reddy revealed that the party would rely on the high command choosing the Chief Minister of Telangana,

"High command will take opinions of MLAs in CLP meeting and we will support whatever the decision will be", Congress leader Komatireddy Venkat Reddy said while speaking to ANI.

After a sweeping victory in Karnataka, Congress' guarantees in Telangana have proved to be a game changer for the party in Telangana, India's youngest state. The Congress scored a massive victory in Telangana by bagging 64 seats in the 119-member Assembly state. (With inputs from ANI)