In-fighting ahead of Telangana Cabinet expansion shakes Congress; cadre calls for unity

Hyderabad: A bitter battle is ensuing in Telangana ahead of the State Cabinet expansion planned after Sankranti. The Congress government in Telangana led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy has 12 ministers in the cabinet. The total number will be increased to 18 ministers. Six more are to be inducted and the aspirants are very high from different communities.

However, the expansion has been riddled with bitter in-fighting with heavyweights vying for the posts. Even the Congress cadre is calling for unity among the top leaders to show a united front to the Opposition and Telangana people.

A bitter battle among Reddys for one berth

The Reddy MLAs are seeing a lot of competition among themselves with each pushing their weight around for a Cabinet ministry.

A senior Congress leader explained, “The expansion has taken time due to internal fighting. There is a lot of competition between the Reddy MLAs and they are all trying hard for the Cabinet posts. The high command in New Delhi is facing a tough time as it is not easy to please everyone. From the Reddy community, only one of them will get a ministry post.”

Velama community fighting for another berth

The Velama community already has the minister for excise tourism and culture but sources say that the two remaining MLA's are also lobbying for the cabinet position.

Scheduled castes and backward communities

In other communities too, the competition is no less. An ‘open’ challenge has been thrown at the political leaders from these communities for being ‘in touch’ with the Opposition parties in Telangana. “They were earlier with other parties before they came back to Congress. To accommodate all of them is difficult. What they do not realise is that their egos are harming the party. Only a few can be selected, and the rest will be given other posts in corporations where many appointments have still not been made,” explained a senior leader.

Minorities not happy

The government is planning to appoint an MLC from the minority community to appease them. Six MLC seats will become vacant in March 2025. With no minorities in the state cabinet there is constant comparison with the former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao government where he had kept Mahmood Ali close to him all the time. The minorities are not happy with the treatment meted out to them and are demanding that their representation must be on par with other communities.

Home and education need strong guidance

The Home and Education ministries require strong ministers as these departments have been under constant attack from the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the State.

“These two departments are giving a bad name to the government. Both administration and governance have been affected as the lapses are directly affecting CM Revanth Reddy. These damages need to be controlled now,” explained a Congress leader.

Congress needs to reach out to more people at the grassroots level

Despite the appointment of the new president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPPC) being complete, party workers said people at the grassroots level are not getting to know about the government’s initiatives.

TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud will appoint new vice-presidents and committee members and the task before them will be to showcase the government achievements. However, the workers said the party has to actively make people aware of the government schemes regarding farm loan waivers and welfare grants.

Congress cadre seeks more guidance to spread the word

Without proper backing from the party heads, Congress workers are constantly finding themselves clashing with BRS workers who they are not able to counter on all occasions. “We need to counter them at the ground level, on social media, in TV debates and in other public forums which can only be done if there is proper communication and constant interaction of leaders, MLAs and ministers. This chain must not be broken which will be taken advantage of by the Opposition.”

However, Congress leaders are claiming that after the final names are announced post-Sankranti, the party will witness a lot of heartburn from ‘rejected leaders’ which might prove costly to the party’s functioning in the long run.