Ex-RSS man now T’gana Cong star
HYDERABAD: The Congress candidate from Kodangal in Telangana, Anumula Revanth Reddy, has travelled a long distance since he joined politics in 2004.
A former activist of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh’s student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Revanth Reddy shot to the limelight in 2006 when he got elected to the zilla parishad territorial constituency from Midjel Mandal in Mahabubnagar as an independent after the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) denied him nomination.
Two years later, he once again showed his election management skills by becoming a member of the legislative council (MLC) as an independent in erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh, which was bifurcated in 2014 to form a separate state of Telangana.
The 49-year-old sports enthusiast — he is the president of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) — has emerged as a star campaigner for the Congress in Telangana, drawing huge crowds to his public meetings.
Known for his oratorial skills, the firebrand politician is much in demand and has got requests from at least 100 ‘Maha Kootami’ or grand alliance candidates to campaign in their constituencies.
A close relative of senior Congress leader S Jaipal Reddy, Revanth Reddy had worked closely with Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu. Having won the last two assembly elections from Kodangal, the Telangana Congress working president created a flutter in the party when he virtually declared himself the CM candidate during a public meeting last month.