
A sense of disgruntlement appears to be brewing within the Telangana Congress over the inordinate delay in the expansion of the state Cabinet, with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy making it clear...
A sense of disgruntlement appears to be brewing within the Telangana Congress over the inordinate delay in the expansion of the state Cabinet, with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy making it clear that there are no indications of such an exercise in the near future.
The latest trigger came after Munugode MLA Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy skipped a massive public meeting in Nalgonda, which was addressed by Revanth Reddy.
The meeting was organised by his brother and Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy.
Tension prevailed at the meeting when police detained several supporters of Raj Gopal Reddy ahead of the event. They had reportedly planned to stage protests demanding his induction into the Cabinet.
Political circles believe Raj Gopal Reddy’s absence was linked to the prolonged delay in the Cabinet expansion.
Although the Congress government has been in office for nearly two-and-a-half years and is set to complete three years in December, two ministerial berths continue to remain vacant.
The party high command was expected to take a decision after consulting the Chief Minister following the recent West Bengal and Tamil Nadu elections. However, no concrete decision has been taken so far.
Party sources indicate that the leadership may review the government’s performance after the halfway mark of its tenure and could simultaneously take up Cabinet expansion and reshuffle around December.
However, there are indications that the Congress high command is not fully satisfied with the government’s performance in certain sectors and may take a final call only after evaluating multiple factors.
Raj Gopal Reddy was reportedly assured a Cabinet berth by the party leadership during the Assembly election campaign, but the promise remains unfulfilled. This has led to growing dissatisfaction among his supporters in the Munugode constituency.
His supporters argue that if the erstwhile Khammam district can have three ministers in the Cabinet, there is no reason why the undivided Nalgonda district should not get similar representation.
They also contend that there should be no objection to having two ministers from the same family, citing the contributions made by the Komatireddy brothers to the Congress.
At the same time, party insiders believe that the Chief Minister is reluctant to proceed with a Cabinet expansion or reshuffle because of the complex political balancing required.
Any such exercise would have to accommodate caste equations, regional representation, social justice considerations and seniority, potentially creating fresh dissatisfaction within the party.
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