Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao rewards defectors in Cabinet rejig

HYDERABAD: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today expanded his Cabinet with the induction of six members, including three who defected to the ruling TRS, as he sought to strengthen the party in regions where it is seen to be on a relatively weak wicket.

Four-time MLA Talasani Srinivas Yadav quit his Assembly seat as well as the Telugu Desam Party, on whose ticket he won the Assembly election from Sanatnagar segment in the city, hours before he joined the Council of Ministers.

Yadav's induction is seen an attempt by the TRS to shore up the party's prospects in the elections to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, expected soon.

TRS is keen to cover ground in the city, where the BJP-TDP combine appears to be a formidable force.

Yadav had served in the Cabinet of N Chandrababu Naidu in undivided Andhra Pradesh.

The Chief Minister inducted Tummala Nageswara Rao, a former Minister who also served in N Chandrababu Naidu's Cabinet in the undivided Andhra Pradesh, and recently joined forces with TRS.

Nageswara Rao is a strongman in Khammam district, where TRS wants to make inroads. He had lost the Assembly election in Khammam this year and is currently not a member of either House of the State Legislature.

Yadav, Rao and four others - A Indrakaran Reddy, C Laxma Reddy, Jupally Krishna Rao and A Chandulal - were administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor E S L Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan, taking the Cabinet's strength to the optimum of 18.

The expansion of the Cabinet, which has no woman representation, is the first since the TRS government assumed office on June 2 this year.

Indrakaran Reddy, who was in the Congress and TDP earlier, won on a BSP ticket from Nirmal segment in Adilabad district in this year's elections.

Laxma Reddy is a doctor-turned-politician. Krishna Rao was also in the Congress before joining TRS three years ago, while Chandulal is a tribal leader.