Telangana Cabinet expansion: MLA Malreddy says he is still prepared to quit if social equations were a hurdle

MLA Malreddy said he is ready to quit if social equations block ministerial posts for Greater Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy, urging fair Cabinet representation

Hyderabad: Sticking to his guns, Ibrahimpatnam MLA Malreddy Rangareddy said he was still prepared to quit if social equations were a hurdle in appointing an MLA as a minister from Greater Hyderabad and the erstwhile Rangareddy district.

There were six ministers from the region in the past, but today there are none. There is tremendous pressure from the party workers about the representation and, in the wake of local bodies’ elections fast approaching, it would be challenging for them to convince the people, he said on Sunday.

Addressing media persons at his residence, the Ibrahimpatnam MLA raised objections over the party’s decisions in the cabinet expansion. Senior MLAs from the erstwhile 10 districts should be made ministers, and then caste equations should be considered in the allocation of the balance eight cabinet berths, he insisted.

“Leaders who had joined the party recently are being made ministers. Similarly, two to three cabinet berths are being approved from some districts while others are being completely neglected,” Malreddy Rangareddy fumed.

The Ibrahimpatnam MLA admitted that AICC in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan, TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud, Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, and others had spoken to him personally.

“All I requested of the party leaders was to safeguard the interests of party workers, failing which there could be severe problems,” he said.

After meeting the Ibrahimpatnam MLA, TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud said the AICC had ensured caste balance in the cabinet expansion. Allocation was done considering the BC caste survey and SC classification demands, he stressed.

Malreddy Rangareddy’s demands were genuine and made sense. There are three more cabinet berths vacant. All the issues raised by him would be taken up with the AICC incharge and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, he said, assuring, “Ranga Reddy district will be given due priority in the coming days.”