Cabinet expansion, new TPCC chief put on hold for a week
The much-awaited Cabinet expansion and selection of the new Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee chief is reportedly put on hold for at least a week.
Chief Minister and TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy met Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and K.C. Venugopal in New Delhi on Wednesday to discuss these issues. Congress’ Telangana in-charge Deepa Dasmunshi was also there.
The meeting lasted for over an hour. Though what transpired at the meeting is not known, a senior TPCC functionary confirmed to The Hindu that the matters have been put off for at least a week.
“It looks like a consensus could not be reached on who all will be making it into the Cabinet. The caste equations must have been discussed thoroughly after which the leaders decided to defer the expansion by a few days,” a source said.
There are six vacancies to be filled up in the Cabinet and multiple aspirants vying for it. The Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy had a series of meetings with the AICC leadership last week to discuss the names of MLAs to be inducted into the Cabinet and the name of the new TPCC chief.
Sources said that MLAs such as P. Sudarshan Reddy, Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, Malreddy Ranga Reddy, T. Rammohan Reddy, Premsagar Rao, Vakati Srihari Mudiraj and G. Vivekanand had lobbied hard for induction into the Cabinet as Ministers. The party is contemplating on inducting MLAs from the Reddy, Velama, Mudiraj and SC communities.
Party leaders said that the appointment of the new TPCC chief is linked to the caste equation for Cabinet berths. In all likelihood, the party is looking at giving the party chief post to a leader from the BC community.
TPCC working president Mahesh Kumar Goud is the front-runner. Former MP Madhu Yaskhi Goud is also trying for the post. Among SCs, Sampath Kumar is pitching hard while among STs, Mahabubabad MP Porike Balaram Naik is using his contacts to bag the post.
Earlier in the day, senior BRS leader K. Keshava Rao was welcomed back into the party.
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