HBD CM Revanth Reddy: Wah! What A Journey

The Telugu states have seen many CMs in the past but not many CM life stories have been as inspirational as Revanth Reddy’s as he endured a lot in this journey from virtually nothing to becoming the CM of Telangana. On the occasion of his birthday today, which happens to be his first as CM of Telangana, let’s have a brief look at Revanth’s remarkable rise to power.

Anumula Revanth Reddy was born on 8 November 1969 in Kondareddy Palli of erstwhile Mahboobnagar, (present-day Nagarkurnool, Telangana) and he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Andhra Vidyalaya College, Osmania University, Hyderabad. One of the defining points in his life is marrying Geetha Reddy, who is the niece of former minister Jaypal Reddy. This gave him political resources to establish himself in politics.

In his early days as a student, Revanth Reddy was a member of the ABVP group where he fought for student welfare. He carried this fighting spirit into his political life as he won as ZPTC from Midjil mandal as an independent candidate.

Little did anyone know that Revanth, a small-time ZPTC then would go on to become the CM of Telangana in under two decades from then.

Revanth’s first major political outshining came from TDP when he was made MLC by the party. This was quickly followed by a meeting with Chandrababu himself who saw the potential in Revanth and gave him a key position in internal affairs.

It was in 2009 when Revanth first became an MLA on TDP’s behalf as he won Kodangal despite a strong YSR wave in that year’s election.

After bifurcation, Revanth, having won Kodangal in 2014, stood as the floor leader for TDP in the Telangana assembly. But this journey didn’t last long as he shifted to Congress in 2017 and shockingly lost in the 2018 election from Kodangal. He then contested from Malkajgiri in 2019 and won the polls, keeping his political activity intact.

The real deal started in 2023 when Revanth Reddy, who was serving as PCC president led a single-handed campaign against CM KCR and actually managed to topple him. This remarkable feat catapulted him to the CM chair and there has been no looking back ever since.

The real defining moment in Revanth’s career is arguably his arrest in 2015 in the note-for-vote case which ignited the fire in him to avenge KCR by any means possible. Following his release, he acted swiftly, moved into Congress, developed a clout there and spun a winning campaign before claiming the CM chair in 2023. Alas, he is currently the CM of Telangana and paving a new precedent of his own.