HYDERABAD: State BJP president G Kishan Reddy, sworn in as minister in the new Narendra Modi Cabinet on Sunday, has been allocated Coal and Mines. An important portfolio, it is also significant due to the presence of Singareni Collieries in the state.
BJP national general secretary Bandi Sanjay Kumar, the other leader from Telangana to get a berth in the Union Council of Ministers, received MoS Home. Bihar BJP leader Nityanand Rai is the other MoS in charge of the portfolio and they would both work under Amit Shah, the Cabinet Minister for Home Affairs.
Kishan, who was in charge of Tourism, Culture and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) in the outgoing Modi Cabinet, was expected to get a plum portfolio after the BJP doubled its tally in the state.
The Singareni coal belt area is spread out across erstwhile Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Khammam districts. While the BJP has become stronger in Adilabad and Karimnagar, its work is cut out in Khammam and Warangal.
Though the BJP has significantly expanded its base in the coal belt area in the Lok Sabha elections, the trade union affiliated to the party is not strong.
The BRS and Congress have also been alleging that the BJP is trying to privatise Singareni Collieries.
Bandi Sanjay is the third MP from Telangana and second from Karimnagar to hold MoS Home in an NDA regime.
During the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, the then Karimnagar MP Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao held the post from 1999 to 2003. Vidyasagar Rao went on to be appointed the Governor of Maharashtra by the Modi dispensation.
In the second Modi government, Kishan Reddy served as MoS Home from 2019 to 2021, before he was elevated to the rank of Union Minister and given the portfolio of Tourism, Culture and Development of North Eastern Region of India.