'Sonia Gandhi going to make me CM': Telangana Congress leader in viral video

The upcoming Telangana assembly elections have several contenders for the chief ministerial post from the Congress party.

Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha member Komatireddy Venkat Reddy reportedly claimed that Sonia Gandhi would appoint him as the chief minister if the party emerged victorious in the upcoming Telangana assembly elections. Reddy, a member of Parliament from Nalgonda, was purportedly heard making the claim during an election rally in his Lok Sabha constituency.

Congress MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy.(X / @KomatireddyKVR)

The video, shared widely on social media platforms, shows the Congress leader confidently asserting his claim to the chief ministerial position. In the purported five-second clip, Reddy is heard saying in Telegu "Sonia Gandhi is going to give the CM position to me if the party comes to power. There is no one senior to me here".

The video emerged on social media ahead of the November 30 elections in Telangana.

Sonia Gandhi holds considerable sway in decision-making processes in Congress but the grand old party has not projected its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Telangana Assembly elections.

Congress has several probables who could stake a claim to the top post should the party return to powers. State Congress Chief Revanth Reddy, former State chief Uttam Reddy and Congress leader Madhu Yakshi Goud are among the top contenders from the grand old party.

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Komatireddy Venkat Reddy has been a member of the Parliament of Bhuvanagiri Parliament Constituency since 2019 and the star campaigner of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee since 2022.

He was Deputy Floor Leader, of the Telangana Congress Legislative Party and former MLA of the Nalgonda Assembly constituency.

Telangana is scheduled to go to assembly elections on November 30 and the counting of votes, along with those of four other poll-bound states, has been scheduled for December 3.

The state is set to witness a triangular contest among the BJP, BRS, and Congress.

In the previous Assembly election in 2018, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), previously known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), won 88 of the 119 seats, hogging 47.4 per cent of the total vote share. The Congress came in a distant second with just 19 seats.