Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday expanded his six month old Cabinet by inducting 6 ministers to the existing 12 member team. The permitted 18 berths in the Council of Ministers has now been filled.
Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Tummala Nageswara Rao, A. Indrakaran Reddy, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, C. Laxma Reddy, Ajmeera Chandulal and Jupally Krishna Rao. The brief ceremony, lasting a mere 11 minutes, on the lawns of Raj Bhavan appeared to be confined to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti and officials as leaders from none of the Opposition parties were present.
The expansion was significant for the omission of women as the entire Cabinet of 18 will have none of them for the first time in several decades. TRS MLA of Warangal Konda Surekha who was a frontrunner for a berth was conspicuous by her absence at the swearing in. The Chief Minister was said to have assured Ms. Surekha that her husband Konda Muralidhar Rao would be given the TRS ticket in the elections to Legislative Council from MLAs quota in February. Also absent was Dharmapuri MLA Koppula Easwar who met Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday after protests by the former’s supporters over his exclusion.
Mr. Rao has ensured that the social and geographical parameters of Cabinet formation were met in the two rounds of swearing in. Now, he has to get Mr. Nageswara Rao and Mr. Srinivas Yadav elected to either House of the legislature. While Mr. Rao lost the Assembly elections on the Telugu Desam ticket, the latter won on behalf of the same party but resigned his membership of the Assembly hours before he drove into Raj Bhavan.
Mr. Yadav was taken in a procession by his supporters after the oath taking. A large crowd of supporters of both Mr. Nageswara Rao and Mr. Yadav filled the roads from morning. They burst crackers on the road opposite Raj Bhavan when the names of their leaders were called out over mike by the Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma for administration of oath.
