Hyderabad: There has been an air of freshness in administration since Revanth Reddy took over as chief minister of Telangana on December 7.Reddy has tried to cut an image of an approachable chief minister, in complete contrast to his predecessor, K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR), who was accused of being inaccessible. Reddy’s refusal to occupy the palatial official chief minister’s bungalow, his decision to throw open the state secretariat to common people, his decision to re-institute Praja Darbar (a grievance redressal mechanism), and his austerity measures have won him praise from several quarters.He has also refused to let the police purchase new high-end cars for his convoy – a practice familiar whenever the government or chief minister changes. He not only retained the old cars (used by his predecessors) but pruned their number from 15 to nine. He, however, agreed to give the cars fresh paint in a different colour.Also read: Telangana: As Revanth Takes Over, Once-Fortified Official Residence of CM Thrown Open to PublicHowever, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS)-led opposition has denied any refreshing style on the part of the chief minister or the new government led by the Congress party. Former finance minister and BRS MLA T. Harish Rao said Reddy still spoke like an opposition leader rather than as a chief minister.Rao asked Reddy to prove his credentials as chief minister, instead of blaming the previous government all the time. According to Rao, Reddy relies on “fake news” circulated on social media. He also alleged that Reddy on the very second day of assuming office had unleashed a “false campaign” on social media noting that he inherited huge debt from the previous BRS government.Soon after taking oath as chief minister on December 7, Reddy handed over an appointment letter to T. Rajini on the same stage at Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad. A post-graduate in commerce from Osmania University, Rajini impressed Reddy with her articulation when she met him at the Congress party office three months ago. He had assured her that he would sign her appointment letter as the first file immediately after taking over as chief minister. Rajini has been appointed as a project manager in Telangana State Seed and Organic Certification Agency with a monthly salary of Rs 50,000, but on a contract basis until her service is regularised.Revanth Reddy signs the appointment letter of Rajini. Photo: X (Twitter)/@TelanganaCMOReddy came in for praise even in official circles for displaying “maturity” than previous chief ministers though he was not even a minister in the past. He began his political career as a territorial constituency member of a local body, served as a member of the legislative council (MLC) for a brief, and MLA twice. In his second term as MLA, he was often suspended from the Assembly or shouted down by treasury benches representing BRS.He is also winning praise for handling legislative debates in the face of scathing attacks from BRS legislators. In the nearly two-hour speech that was live telecast as part of the debate on the motion of thanks to the governor’s address, he said his narrative was as good as punishment to the BRS leaders for their wrongdoing. He said his government would not press for their suspension for their unruly behaviour but would force them to listen to him.In the process, he dug into the sale of paddy seed grown by KCR in his 150 acres of crop to seed companies at Rs 4,250 a quintal while other farmers got only Rs 1,900 a quintal. He walked away with the credit of implementing two of the six guarantees of Congress immediately after taking over. They relate to free bus travel for women and a hike in the ceiling of cashless treatment under the Aarogyasri scheme for the poor in corporate hospitals from Rs 5 to Rs 10 lakh.Harish Rao, however, claimed that it was not six but 13 guarantees which Congress gave and only two were delivered. Rao said the guarantee on health was not new because the previous BRS government had permitted organ transplants costing up to Rs 11 lakh for the poor at private hospitals for the last two years.Reddy ordered the removal of barricades at the premises hitherto occupied by KCR to make it accessible to the public for giving representations on public grievances redressal days. He has announced a judicial inquiry into question papers leak in recruitment exams and the construction of the Kaleswaram lift-irrigation project which was hit by the sinking of a pier of one of its three barrages. He has also stopped the extension of Hyderabad metro rail works from Raidurg to the international airport following complaints that the work was commissioned to benefit a few landowners with close links in the previous BRS government. Instead, the route was ordered to be realigned from the Old City to the airport.Revanth Reddy was firm on the replacement of the Dharani portal of land transactions which was introduced by the BRS government three years ago. This was because of lakhs of complaints by the public about illegal transactions that took place.He also eased out a dozen retired bureaucrats who were employed as advisors to the government and effected major changes in the top brass of IAS and IPS. He also stripped the chairpersons of a dozen corporations of their posts.He wanted a delegation to visit Bengaluru to discuss the release of water by Karnataka from the Narayanpur dam to meet the drinking water requirement of Telangana in the Krishna basin. He strengthened the Telangana State Anti-Narcotics Bureau by appointing a full-time director and sanctioning 300 staff members.He had a meeting with former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan to discuss measures to put the economy of the state back on the rails in the aftermath of outstanding loans touching Rs 3.66 lakh crore.The finance department was asked to prepare a White Paper on the economy to be tabled in the assembly on Wednesday. On his instructions, the government machinery is gearing up to resume distribution of ration cards for the poor and the inclusion of new names at gram sabhas.Political analyst K. Nageshwar said the optics of Reddy’s government have been fairly good so far. “By opening the gates of the Secretariat to the public, holding Praja Darbar to hear public grievances, and resuming permissions for protests at Dharna Chowk near Indira Park, Reddy has shown his liberal and democratic approach,” added Nageshwar.Telangana Jana Samithi chief M. Kodandaram said the days of “warm and friendly governments” are back under Reddy. Kodandaram is set to assume a key role as an interface between the government and the people.