It appears that Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is consciously avoiding appointing Kamma officials to key positions, unlike in his previous administration.
Naidu has selected Neerabh Kumar Prasad, a 1988-batch IAS officer, as the Chief Secretary of the state even before he officially took charge as Chief Minister. Prasad, who hails from Delhi, has no caste connections with the TDP chief.
In fact, Prasad was a front-runner for the Chief Secretary post in 2022 itself, but former Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy overlooked him and chose K S Jawahar Reddy, bypassing three other senior IAS officers.
On Thursday, Naidu appointed senior IPS officer Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao as the new Director General of Police.
A 1989-batch IPS officer, Dwaraka Tirumala Rao should have become the DGP long ago, but Jagan preferred his junior K V Rajendranath Reddy of the 1992 batch as the DGP during his tenure.
According to sources, Dwaraka Tirumala Rao is a Kapu from Guntur district who comes from a humble background. He has served in various capacities in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, including as Cyberabad Police Commissioner.
Naidu also appointed two other IAS officers in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO)—Muddada Ravichandra and P S Pradyumna as Secretaries, neither of whom are Kamma. Ravichandra is a BC from north Andhra, while Pradyumna is a Kannadiga from Bengaluru.
So far, Naidu has picked only one Kamma for a key position—Dammalapati Srinivas, a senior lawyer, as Advocate General of Andhra Pradesh.
Sources say Srinivas was recommended by former Supreme Court Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, who is considered his mentor.
Of course, a couple of Kamma IAS officers, such as G. Sai Prasad and Katamaneni Bhaskar, have received good postings, but not in the CMO or Naidu’s close circles.
In Naidu’s previous regime, several Kamma officers held important positions, including Nanduri Sambasiva Rao as the DGP and A.B. Venkateshwar Rao as Intelligence Chief.
But now, Naidu seems to be taking care to avoid facing allegations of favoring Kammas. It remains to be seen whether Naidu will adhere to this principle going forward.