Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Tuesday retained key Portfolios including finance, information technology and industries with him while allotting others to the newly appointed Cabinet ministers. K Chandrashekhar Rao, who is popularly known as KCR appointed 10 ministers in his cabinet taking the total size of the Cabinet to 12 Ministers.
Telangana can have a maximum of 17 Ministers in the Cabinet according to the Constitutional cap of 15 percent of the assembly strength of 119 members in the assembly.
Chandrasekhar Rao took over as Chief Minister for a second term on December 13. Mohd Mehmood Ali was the only minister to take the oath of office along with him.
READ: Telangana: KCR appoints Mahmood Ali as Home Minister
According to a government order by Telangana Government, G Jagadish Reddy who looked after power in the previous government in 2014 has been allotted education this time. While Indrakaran Reddy has been given forests and environment while T Srinivas Yadav allotted the portfolio of animal husbandry and cinematography.
E Rajendar, the former finance minister, has been given health and family welfare while Niranjan Reddy agriculture. Koppula Eshwar was allotted social welfare department including SC development and tribal welfare, the Government Order said.
Dayakar Rao gets the portfolio of Panchayati Raj, while Srinivas Goud prohibition and excise, Prashanth Reddy transport and Mala Reddy labor and employment.
The CM also will retain portfolios that were not allotted to others, according to the government order.
During the first Cabinet Expansion of the Youngest State, Six new faces -S Niranjan Reddy, Koppula Eashwar, Errabelli Dayakar Rao, V Srinivas Goud, Vemula Prashanth Reddy, and Ch Malla Reddy — found a berth in the Council of Ministers in the state.
The Chief Minister’s nephew and senior TRS leader T Harish Rao, who earlier served as Irrigation Minister, did not figure in the list, as also the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) supremo’s son KT Rama Rao. Moreover, just like 2014, Cabinet has no women ministers.
READ: KCR appointed KT Rama Rao as TRS Working President in a bid to expand nationally
Last week, the chief minister fixed Tuesday for the Cabinet expansion, as it is an “auspicious day” being “Magha Shuddha Pournami” as per the Lunar calendar. The Telangana Assembly Session is slated to begin from Feb 22.
In the elections, TRS won 88 seats, Congress won 19 seats, AIMIM won 7 seats, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) won 2 seats. The BJP managed to win only a single seat this year against its 5 MLA in 2014. Both TDP and Congress stiched alliance to take on TRS in the State Polls.
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