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Congress leader Revanth Reddy, who became the Chief Minister of Telangana on Thursday, had once pledged to wipe out K Chandrashekar Rao's political ground in the state. And he kept his word in the recently concluded Telangana Assembly election as he pushed the BRS chief out of office. A controversial leader, often at loggerheads with the KCR government, Revanth Reddy proved to be a successful gamble for Congress in Telangana.

Why a gamble? Well, Reddy has not been one of the conventionally popular leaders and his rise to prominence also came only recently. Reddy comes with a wide range of cross-party experience, beginning his political career with BJP's student wing ABVP to being mentored by Chandrababu Naidu in TDP. He joined Congress in 2017, and quickly rose through the ranks despite being at odds with leaders within the party, thus making his elevation to the party's Telangana chief in June 2021, all the more risky and his subsequent success all the more sweet.

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Reddy, a relatively young politician, aged 54, is known for his oratory, where he uses raw emotions and unbridled remarks to connect with and pique the sentiments of his audience. He used this skill to the best of his abilities to provoke the KCR government, which in turn attempted to pay him back, only to give Reddy the much needed political momentum.

Reddy's run-ins with the KCR regime began much before he joined Congress. One of the instances that brought the spotlight on Reddy, then TDP MLA, was his arrest in a bribery case in May 2015. He was caught red-handed by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Telangana while allegedly bribing Elvis Stephenson, a nominated MLA, for supporting the TDP nominee Vem Narendar Reddy in Legislative Council elections.

Revanth Reddy was later released on bail in July 2015. As he walked out of the Cherlapally Central Jail to a massive crowd cheering his release, Reddy had said, "My only agenda in life is to dethrone KCR and make his family irrelevant in politics."

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi with Telangana CM Revanth Reddy in New Delhi. (ANI Photo)

His faceoffs with KCR not only continued, but intensified after he joined Congress. In 2018, Reddy was placed under house arrest at his residence in Kodangal after he gave the call for protest against KCR’s visit to Kosi. Later in March 2020, the Congress leader spent 14 days in judicial custody for flying a drone over a farmhouse of KCR’s son K T Rama Rao, who is the working president of BRS. He had flown the drone as a mark of protest against the allegedly illegally constructed farmhouse of KTR.

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Reddy faced house arrest or police action as many as seven times, according to a report by The Indian Express. In July 2021, the Congress leader was restricted to his house in order to prevent him from holding protests over the alleged Rs 1,000 crore corruption during e-auction of government lands. Another house arrest came in December the same year, when Reddy was stopped from joining a farmers protest at Bhupalpally over paddy procurement.

It was only the year 2023, which saw Revanth Reddy rise to prominence, when the fierce leader raised the issue of Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) paper leak. His house was raided on March 22 and he was not allowed to visit the Osmania University where students were holding a protest. Reddy later led a massive protest which also turned violent. This incident further cemented his position in the state politics.

Revanth Reddy, who repeatedly clashed with the BRS government head on, emerged as a strong voice which refused to die down. While he proved his political acumen, he was also firmly supported by the top brass of Congress, particularly Rahul Gandhi. His untiring efforts to reach out to the people with Congress' "six guarantees" stood out as he often addressed at least four poll rallies every day.

On December 3, 2023, Reddy's toil paid off when Congress emerged as the single largest party in Telangana, winning 64 of 119 seats. Reddy had succeeded in his "agenda" of dethroning KCR if not having made the Rao family "irrelevant in politics" yet.