Even before the Telangana Congress party could come out of the celebratory mood following its recent victory in the assembly elections, the party leadership is now under tremendous pressure from aspirants seeking the filling of MLC seats and other nominated posts.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who rushed to Delhi on Thursday to take part in the Congress Working Committee meeting, brought this matter to the notice of the high command.
He sought permission to fill up the posts at the earliest so that he could concentrate on the administration.
Several former ministers, ex-MLAs, and ex-MPs are vying for these nominated posts, with prominent figures including Mohd Shabbir Ali, Md Azharuddin, Ch Kiran Kumar Reddy, Vem Narender Reddy, Balram Naik, Janga Raghava Reddy, Konda Murali, Errabelli Swarna, Bellaiah Naik, etc.
Many leaders, such as Vem Narender Reddy, Janga Raghava Reddy, and E Venkatram Reddy, are close to the chief minister. However, he cannot accommodate all of them due to caste equations. He is already being criticized for selecting too many Reddys from IAS and IPS officers for top posts.
Therefore, he has to perform a balancing act by accommodating leaders from all communities and minorities.
Sources indicate that, in the first phase, one leader from each district will be appointed to nominated posts, including in state-level corporations.
Others, like Konda Murali, Md Ali Shabbir, Md Azharuddin, and Madhu Yashki, are expecting nominations for the MLC seats.
It remains to be seen how Revanth will satisfy all these aspirants.