Telangana: Patnam Mahender Reddy sworn in as minister in KCR Cabinet

With his induction, the lone vacancy — which arose after Medical and Health Minister Eatala Rajender was dismissed from the Cabinet in May 2021 — has been filled. Now the Cabinet has the full complement of 18 members including the chief minister.

Patnam Mahender Reddy was a minister in KCR’s first innings between 2014-2018.

Mahender Reddy lost the 2018 Assembly election from Tandur to the Congress nominee Pilot Rohit Reddy, who later joined the BRS.

Also read: BRS in firefighting mode as dissidence rears its head

Move to prevent poaching?

As the Assembly elections draw closer, the chief minister is understood to have decided to take Mahender Reddy into the Cabinet to prevent him from being poached by either the Congress or the BJP.

KCR’s decision to take Mahender Reddy into the Cabinet is being seen as a testament to his political acumen of knowing what the Opposition parties are up to.

Mahender Reddy, who does not see eye to eye with Rohit Reddy, has been dropping subtle hints that he might be forced to quit the BRS if he was not allotted an Assembly ticket for Tandur.

KCR, who did not want to lose Mahender Reddy, a powerful leader in Tandur, took him into his Cabinet to keep him in good humour.

Though Mahender Reddy will have just a little over three months to serve as minister, the very fact that he was taken into the Cabinet has sent a signal that he is a force to reckon with.

Sworn in as the Cabinet Minister by Hon'ble Governer Dr. Tamilisai Sounderarajan garu and in the presence of Hon'ble CM #KCR garu and many dignitaries of the #Telangana Government at Raj Bhavan today . My sincere thanks to KCR garu for this opportunity.@BRSparty @KTRBRS… pic.twitter.com/2DnkSkrHPt

— Patnam Mahender Reddy (@Drpmahendereddy) August 24, 2023

Also read: Will dumping CPI(M), CPI cost BRS dearly? Numbers suggest otherwise

KCR’s interaction with Governor

Another interesting development that caught the eye of everyone was that the chief minister was closeted with Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan for over 15 minutes before Mahender Reddy was sworn in, which is understood to be indicative of an armistice between the two dignitaries.

Both KCR and the Tamilisai have been at loggerheads for more than two years after the Governor did not give her assent to the Cabinet recommendation that Padi Kaushik Reddy be appointed as MLC under the Governor’s quota in 2021. He was later elected to the council under MLAs’ quota the same year.

As several bills are still pending with the Governor, the chief minister may have requested her to clear them. They included the bill related to RTC which sought to take the employees of the corporation on government rolls.

The Governor’s office said that the RTC bill was sent for legal opinion to check if it has all the recommendations that the Governor had made before the bill pass passed in the Assembly.

After Mahender Reddy was sworn in, KCR and Tamilisai posed for a picture with the entire cabinet.

Earlier in the day, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee senior vice-president G Nirajan urged the Governor not to administer the oath of office and secrecy to Patnam Mahender Reddy as KCR was taking him into the Cabinet only to pacify him after not allotting the ticket.

Describing KCR’s decision as “unethical,” he said that it was antithetical to the spirit of democracy as it was happening ahead of the elections to the Telangana Assembly.