HYDERABAD: Injecting a fresh dose of adrenaline into governance and the TRS machinery, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday brought in his son and TRS working president K T Rama Rao, and his nephew T Harish Rao, who are known for their efficiency into the state cabinet, to face future political and administrative challenges, besides opening the doors for the first time to two women - P Sabita Indra Reddy and Sathyavathi Rathod - after the formation of Telangana state in 2014.
Another hallmark of the Cabinet expansion was social re-engineering that KCR had undertaken to take most of the important communities on board which have been nursing a grouse that they were either under-represented or ignored completely. After expansion, the 18-member Cabinet has 11 members belonging to forward castes, which are about 62 per cent of the total number. They are: Velamas (4), Reddys (6) and Kamma (1). The others in the Cabinet were: BCs (4), SCs, STs and Muslim minorities (one each).
It is expected that the new-look Cabinet would not only make the governance gallop, but also make the TRS strong in the face of the renewed onslaught by the BJP, which is gunning for power in the state by 2023.The Cabinet expansion came nine months after KCR rode to power on the crest of a popular wave in his favour in December last year. The Cabinet is now poised to take the governance of the state to a new orbit, which has lately taken a hit in the absence of any experienced minister taking the lead.
Tamilisai Soundararajan, who was sworn in as governor of Telangana in the morning, administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new members of the Cabinet at a colourful function at Raj Bhavan here on Sunday at 4.15 pm, as it was an auspicious hour.
The full complement of the 18-member Cabinet, including the chief minister, now has TRS working president and KCR’s son KT Rama Rao, his nephew T Harish Rao, both of whom earned a name that they could make the government up and running in the first innings of the TRS government.
When K Chandrasekhar Rao expanded his Cabinet after coming to power for a second term last year, he excluded Rama Rao and Harish Rao as he had too many irons in the fire at that time, including exploring the possibility of playing a bigger role at the Centre as the architect of the Federal Front.