The State Cabinet on Friday cleared people’s poet and noted singer Gorati Venkanna, former Minister Basavaraju Saraiah and a prominent Vaisya leader Boggarapur Dayanand for nomination to the Legislative Council from Governor’s quota.
The three who were recommended to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan for nomination will fill vacancies of former Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy, Karne Prabhakar and Ramulu Naik which arose in the Upper House in August.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao who presided over the Cabinet meeting did a balancing act to give representation to SCs (Venkanna), BCs (Saraiah) and OCs (Dayanand) in the selection of candidates.
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While Mr. Venkanna was a leading figure in the cultural troupes that were active in separate Telangana movement, Mr. Saraiah had been aspiring for some post ever since he joined the TRS after he quit Congress four years ago. He was three times Congress MLA in 1999, 2004 and 2009 and served as Backward Classes Welfare Minister in Kiran Kumar Reddy government.
Mr. Dayanand was a Deputy Director (Protocol) who took voluntary retirement in 2003 and joined the Telugu Desam. He was with the TRS since 2014. He was a prominent Vaisya leader and lifetime chief adviser of Vasavi Seva Kendram in Hyderabad.