There is a possibility of the chief minister leaving some Cabinet berths vacant to woo MLAs from other parties.
Published Dec 14, 2023 | 10:00 AM ⚊ Updated Dec 14, 2023 | 10:00 AM
Revanth Reddy faces the uphill task of winning maximum number of Lok Sabha seats in Telangana. (X)
Several Congress MLAs are expecting a ministerial post even as A Revanth Reddy is just settling into his new role as the chief minister of Telangana.
However, Revanth Reddy seems not to be in a hurry to fill up the remaining six berths in his Cabinet, which could have a strength of 18, including the chief minister.
Since the Congress has only 64 members in the 119-member Assembly, he has to protect the wafer-thin majority and avoid any issue that could reduce the numbers.
The BRS and BJP leaders are already wondering — and openly so — how long the Congress regime would last.
Union Minister and state BJP chief G Kishan Reddy has said he was not sure of the government’s longevity because of the slender majority. BRS MLA Kadiam Sreehari went one step ahead and outlined an action plan to pull down the incumbent government, though there were no takers for his scheme.
Revanth Reddy is aware of the dangers and is making moves aimed at consolidating his as well as his government’s position.
He has warmed up to the AIMIM — which has seven MLAs in the House — making the BJP suspect an alliance between the two.
AIMIM’s six-time MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi was made the pro-tem Speaker, and the chief minister even held a meeting with the Majlis MLAs to discuss development works in their respective constituencies.
If he has to win the support of MLAs from other parties, he will keep some Cabinet berths vacant as an incentive to cross the floor to the Congress.
The Congress high command made Revanth Reddy, who has never been a minister in the past, the chief minister.
He will have to rise to the occasion and win a maximum number of Lok Sabha seats for the Congress in the Parliamentary elections slated for next year.
The chief minister is likely to delay the Cabinet expansion, leaving the incentive open. This should make the prospective ministers work with additional enthusiasm and help Revanth Reddy win as many Lok Sabha seats as possible, cementing the chief minister’s position.
At present, the Congress has three Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, and all of them fell vacant after the incumbent MPs, including Revanth Reddy, were elected to the Assembly.
There are quite a few legislators — and even a few leaders who lost the Assembly election — in the race for Cabinet berths.
Foremost among them is Mohammad Ali Shabbir, the Muslim face of the Congress. But he was defeated in the Nizamabad Urban constituency. He had earlier left his stronghold, Kamareddy, for Revanth Reddy.
There is no Muslim MLA in the Congress now since the other two candidates, Feroze Khan and Mohammad Azharuddin, were defeated in Nampally and Jubilee Hills, respectively.
As Shabbir is a diehard follower of Revanth Reddy, he stands a better chance of becoming a minister through the Legislative Council route.
However, Revanth Reddy will also have to consider P Sudarshan Reddy, who won from Bodhan in Nizamabad. Shabbir also belongs to the same Nizamabad district. Sudarshan Reddy, too, is a senior leader and was formerly a minister.
K Premsagar Rao, a loyalist of Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, is also in the race for a Cabinet berth. He won from Mancherial constituency, and Reventh Reddy will be compelled to take his demand for a ministerial post seriously.
He has been the face of the Congress in the Adilabad district throughout the party’s ups and downs.
However, he belongs to the Velama caste. Revanth Reddy has already included Jupally Krishna Rao from the same caste in the Cabinet.
Also from Adilabad, Vivek Venkataswami, who won from Chennur, and his brother Gaddam Vinod, who was elected from Bellampally (Mancherial district), too, are eyeing Cabinet berths.
Between the two, Vivek might make the cut, but then there is a catch. Vikramarka, Vivek, Vinod, and G Prasad Kumar, who is set to become the Speaker, belong to the Mala community, a sub-group among the Scheduled Castes (SCs), whereas only one — Damodar Rajanarasimha — from the Madigas is in the Cabinet.
The Madigas are more in population than the Malas among SCs.
It is unlikely that Revanth Reddy would risk filling all the Cabinet berths and face trouble from the disappointed leaders at a time when he has to show his skill in political management and get as many Lok Sabha seats as possible.
He has to do this political manoeuvre in the face of a resurgent BJP and a wounded BRS which is trying to pull itself together and give its best shot at the Lok Sabha polls.
