Telangana has had only two Chief Ministers in its entire history. Anumula Revanth Reddy of the Indian National Congress holds the office today. He was sworn in on 7 December 2023, days after the Congress won that year’s assembly election. Before him, K. Chandrashekar Rao — almost always written as KCR — governed the state without interruption from the day it was created.
That short list is not an accident. Telangana became India’s 29th state on 2 June 2014, so the office itself is barely a decade old. In that time there have been two individuals, three ministries, one change of ruling party, and not a single spell of President’s Rule. It is the cleanest chief-ministerial chain of any large Indian state, and the easiest one to get exactly right.
How the Office Works in Telangana
The Chief Minister of Telangana is appointed by the Governor under Article 164 of the Constitution. The Governor has no real discretion in normal circumstances — convention requires appointing the leader who commands a majority in the Legislative Assembly. Every other minister is then appointed by the Governor on the Chief Minister’s advice.
The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Assembly, which is where the Chief Minister’s actual security of tenure comes from. There’s no fixed term for the post. A Chief Minister stays as long as the House has confidence in the government, and the Assembly itself has a normal life of five years unless it is dissolved earlier. Anyone appointed must be a member of the state legislature, or become one within six months.
Telangana’s Legislative Assembly has 119 seats. The state is one of the handful with a bicameral legislature, so it also has a 40-member Legislative Council. When no government can be formed or the constitutional machinery breaks down, the state comes under President’s Rule under Article 356, the Council of Ministers stands dissolved, and the Governor administers on behalf of the Union. That has never happened in Telangana.
Complete List of Chief Ministers of Telangana
Rows are numbered the way standard listings do it: a fresh number for each new individual, and a bracketed repeat number where the same person forms a new ministry after an election.
| # | Name | Term Start | Term End | Party | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | K. Chandrashekar Rao | 2 June 2014 | 13 December 2018 | Telangana Rashtra Samithi | First Chief Minister of Telangana; first ministry, formed on the state’s inauguration day |
| (1) | K. Chandrashekar Rao | 13 December 2018 | 6 December 2023 | Telangana Rashtra Samithi (renamed Bharat Rashtra Samithi in October 2022) | Second ministry, after the early election of December 2018 |
| 2 | Anumula Revanth Reddy | 7 December 2023 | Incumbent | Indian National Congress | First Congress Chief Minister of Telangana; first change of ruling party |
Two details in that table are worth spelling out, because listings handle them differently. KCR dissolved the Assembly in September 2018, about eight months early, and stayed on as caretaker Chief Minister until he took oath again on 13 December 2018 after the Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s landslide. So his time in office runs continuously from 2 June 2014 to December 2023 even though it covers two ministries — some tables show it as one unbroken term of nine years and 187 days, others split it into two. Similarly, KCR submitted his resignation on 3 December 2023 once the results were in; most standard listings close his term on 6 December 2023, the day before his successor was sworn in, and a few close it on the resignation date itself. Nothing else in the list is disputed.
Telangana’s list also has to be read alongside its parent state. Everyone who governed the Telangana districts before 2 June 2014 appears on the Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers list, not this one, because until that date the region had no separate Chief Minister of its own.
Longest-Serving and Most Notable Chief Ministers
K. Chandrashekar Rao is the longest-serving Chief Minister of Telangana and, given the arithmetic, will hold that record for years yet. He was in office for 9 years and 187 days, from 2 June 2014 to 6 December 2023 — a span covering the entire period from the state’s creation to its first change of government.
He is also the state’s first Chief Minister, which is a bigger fact than it sounds. KCR founded the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in 2001 with statehood as its single demand, ran the movement for thirteen years, and then became the first head of government of the state that movement produced. Few Indian politicians have both created a state and governed it. His two ministries are remembered for the Mission Bhagiratha piped-water programme, the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project on the Godavari, the Rythu Bandhu direct income transfer to farmers, and the building of a new secretariat and administrative apparatus from scratch. Kaleshwaram’s cost and the later damage to its Medigadda barrage became the sharpest line of criticism against him.
Revanth Reddy is the second and current Chief Minister, and the first from the Congress. He came to the job as the state Congress president and MLA from Kodangal, having crossed over from the Telugu Desam Party earlier in his career, and was sworn in by Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on 7 December 2023. His government’s early identity was built on the six guarantees the Congress campaigned on, including free bus travel for women and expanded health cover.
Telangana has not yet had a woman Chief Minister, and it has never had a Chief Minister from outside the two parties that have held office.
How Power Has Shifted: Party Trends in Telangana
For its first decade Telangana was effectively a one-party state at the level of the Chief Minister’s office. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi won the 2014 election held under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, expanded its majority in 2018, and renamed itself the Bharat Rashtra Samithi in October 2022 as it tried to build a national profile. That rebranding is the reason the same person appears under two party names in the table.
The Congress had been in the wilderness in the region since 2014, despite having piloted the creation of the state at the Centre. Its return in 2023 — 64 seats in the 119-member House — was the first genuine alternation Telangana had seen.
| Party | Chief Ministers | Ministries | Period in office |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telangana Rashtra Samithi / Bharat Rashtra Samithi | 1 | 2 | June 2014 – December 2023 |
| Indian National Congress | 1 | 1 | December 2023 – present |
The Bharatiya Janata Party has never held the Chief Minister’s office in Telangana, though it emerged as a serious third force in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state. The Telugu Desam Party, which dominated undivided Andhra Pradesh for long stretches, has never formed a government in Telangana either.
Records and Quick Facts
State formed: 2 June 2014, under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. Telangana is India’s 29th state.
Chief Ministers so far: 2 individuals, 3 ministries.
First Chief Minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao, sworn in on the state’s inauguration day.
Current Chief Minister: Anumula Revanth Reddy, in office since 7 December 2023.
Longest tenure: K. Chandrashekar Rao, 9 years and 187 days.
Shortest tenure: Not meaningfully applicable yet — no Telangana Chief Minister has served a short term.
Most terms: K. Chandrashekar Rao, with two consecutive ministries.
President’s Rule spells: None. Telangana has never been under Article 356.
Women Chief Ministers: None so far.
Assembly strength: 119 seats. Telangana also has a 40-member Legislative Council.
Capital: Hyderabad, which served as the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for the ten years ending 2 June 2024.
FAQ
Who is the current Chief Minister of Telangana? Anumula Revanth Reddy of the Indian National Congress. He took oath on 7 December 2023 after the Congress won the November 2023 assembly election, and he represents the Kodangal constituency.
Who was the first Chief Minister of Telangana? K. Chandrashekar Rao, who was sworn in on 2 June 2014, the day the state came into being. He had led the statehood movement through the Telangana Rashtra Samithi since 2001.
Who has served the longest as Chief Minister of Telangana? K. Chandrashekar Rao, with 9 years and 187 days across two consecutive ministries between June 2014 and December 2023.
How many Chief Ministers has Telangana had? Two individuals have held the office. Counting ministries rather than people gives three, because K. Chandrashekar Rao formed a fresh government after the December 2018 election.
How is the Chief Minister of Telangana appointed? The Governor appoints the Chief Minister under Article 164 of the Constitution, by convention choosing the leader who commands a majority in the 119-member Legislative Assembly. The Chief Minister must be or become a member of the state legislature within six months of taking office.
Practice Questions
Practice MCQs
- Telangana was carved out of which state? (a) Karnataka (b) Andhra Pradesh (c) Maharashtra (d) Odisha — Answer: (b) Telangana was formed from Andhra Pradesh under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
- On which date did Telangana come into existence as a separate state? (a) 1 November 2000 (b) 2 June 2014 (c) 9 December 2009 (d) 1 April 2014 — Answer: (b) The state was inaugurated on 2 June 2014 as India’s 29th state.
- Who was sworn in as the first Chief Minister of Telangana? (a) Revanth Reddy (b) N. Kiran Kumar Reddy (c) K. Chandrashekar Rao (d) T. Harish Rao — Answer: (c) K. Chandrashekar Rao took oath on the day the state was created and held office until December 2023.
- The Telangana Rashtra Samithi was renamed the Bharat Rashtra Samithi in which year? (a) 2018 (b) 2020 (c) 2022 (d) 2023 — Answer: (c) The party adopted its new name in October 2022 as part of a bid for a national presence.
- Under which Article of the Constitution does the Governor appoint the Chief Minister of a state? (a) Article 155 (b) Article 164 (c) Article 356 (d) Article 213 — Answer: (b) Article 164 provides that the Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor and the other ministers on the Chief Minister’s advice.
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