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Mahender Reddy inducted into cabinet before Telangana elections
Mahender Reddy had won from Tandur assembly seat in 2014 and served as transport minister in KCR’s first cabinet till 2018
Hyderabad
Barely three months ahead of the elections to the Telangana state assembly, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday took up a minor cabinet expansion by inducting a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) lawmaker into his team, people familiar with the matter said.
Senior state legislative council member Patnam Mahender Reddy was sworn in as a minister in the state cabinet. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Reddy at a brief and simple ceremony at Raj Bhavan on Thursday evening.
Apart from the chief minister, his cabinet colleagues and several other BRS leaders and officials were present at the occasion.
Mahender Reddy’s induction filled the lone vacancy in the KCR cabinet, which was left vacant for more than two years, after the dismissal of former health minister Eatala Rajender in May 2021. Rajender later quit the assembly seat as well to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and won the by-election in November 2021 to his Huzurabad seat again.
This is the second time that Mahender Reddy has become a minister in the KCR cabinet. He had won from Tandur assembly seat in 2014 and served as transport minister in KCR’s first cabinet till 2018.
The three-time MLA from Tandur lost the elections to Congress candidate Pilot Rohit Reddy in December 2018 elections. While Rohit Reddy defected to the BRS later, Mahender Reddy was made a legislative council member.
In the upcoming assembly elections in Telangana, scheduled to be held in November or December, Mahender Reddy was expecting to get the BRS ticket from Tandur again. However, KCR who announced the list of candidates for 115 assembly seats on August 21, retained Rohit Reddy for the seat, denying the chance to Mahender Reddy.
People familiar with the matter said Mahender Reddy was terribly upset with the denial of ticket by the BRS leadership, and made an attempt to defect to the Congress. He held a few rounds of talks with the senior Congress leaders.
“However, KCR sent his emissaries to pacify the sulking Mahender Reddy and offered him the cabinet berth,” a BRS leader privy to the development said.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy found fault with the chief minister to take up cabinet expansion only to appease a disgruntled MLC.
“Till yesterday, this gentleman, who could not get the appointment of the chief minister for the last four years, was lobbying to get into the Congress. Now, KCR sought to please him by inducting him into the cabinet. The credit goes to the Congress. He may get the cabinet post, but what have the people of Tandur got from the BRS?” he asked.
PCC vice-president G Niranjan said the governor should not have administered the oath of office to Mahender Reddy, as only three months are left for the elections. “In fact, KCR has become morally a caretaker chief minister after the announcement of candidates for 115 seats and launching the election campaign. So, it is unethical to induct Mahender Reddy into the cabinet,” he argued.
