THE ARTFUL COMBATANT

CHARISMATIC AND INDUSTRIOUS, A. REVANTH REDDY IS IN A HURRY TO LEARN FROM HIS PREDECESSOR'S MISTAKES AND CONSOLIDATE HIS GAINS FOR THE BATTLE ON THE HORIZON

- AMARNATH K. MENON

Telangana’s first Congress chief minister Anumula Revanth Reddy is a man in a hurry. Even before being sworn in at the Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad on December 7 afternoon, he ensured that authorities pulled down the iron fencing that served as the façade at the official residence of the CM.

Pragathi Bhavan, as it was called, was renamed Praja Bhavan, in line with Reddy calling his regime “the first people’s government” of Telangana. The pitch-perfect symbolism of the act sought to demonstrate that he was accessible to people, unlike what his predecessor K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) was perceived to be. It also showed a quality people most readily associate with Reddy—his ability to take the bull by its horns and act decisively. Revanthanna, as he is called, has no time to lose—parliamentary polls are just months away and elections to local bodies in the state follow thereafter.