Telangana Cabinet expansion: Congress pacifies disgruntled MLAs
Hyderabad: Telangana’s ruling Congress on Sunday initiated steps to pacify MLAs who are unhappy over not being inducted into the state Cabinet.
Party in charge for Telangana, Meenakshi Natrajan, state President Mahesh Kumar Goud and other leaders held talks with the MLAs who are disappointed over being left out.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Sunday expanded his Cabinet by inducting three ministers – G. Vivek Venkatswamy, Adluri Laxman Kumar, and Vakiti Srihari.
The long-awaited Cabinet expansion, however, led to dissatisfaction among a section of party MLAs who were considered strong contenders for Cabinet berths. They included senior leader and former minister Sudershan Reddy, Prem Sagar Rao, Malreddy Ranga Reddy, and Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy.
Sudershan Reddy, who was considered a front-runner for the ministerial post, is reported to be unhappy over being ignored. Natrajan, Goud, Chief Minister’s advisor Vem Narender Reddy, and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar visited Sudershan Reddy’s residence at Jubilee Hills to pacify him.
Ranga Reddy had even called a press conference amid speculations that he may publicly air his views to express unhappiness over being ignored.
Natrajan and Goud then spoke to him over the phone. Following their intervention, the MLA postponed his press conference.
The duo believed to have explained to Sudershan Reddy, Ranga Reddy and others the conditions in which the Cabinet was expanded. They were told that the exercise was undertaken only to ensure social balance.
Vivek Venkatswamy, a former MP and son of former Union Minister G. Venkataswamy, and Government Whip Adluri Laxman are from the Scheduled Castes, while Srihari is from the Backward Classes. Ramachandra Naik, who is slated to be appointed the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, is a tribal MLA.
This was the first expansion in the Cabinet, which was formed on December 7, 2023, with the swearing-in of the Chief Minister and 11 ministers.
The long-delayed expansion took place after the party’s central leadership cleared the names of three ministers.
Though there are vacancies in the Cabinet, the party leadership decided to keep three posts vacant.
The state can have a maximum of 18 ministers, including the Chief Minister.