Question mark over T Harish Rao in Cabinet

Hyderabad: With the completion of the merging of 12 defector Congress MLAs with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the way is clear for the much awaited cabinet expansion. Sources close to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said the Congress MLAs who defected will have a chance of getting ministerial posts in the Cabinet expansion.

Former home minister and Maheswaram MLA Sabitha Indra Reddy is likely to get a Cabinet berth.  The CM has already announced in the Assembly that he will appoint two women ministers. He can induct six more ministers.

The undivided Khammam district has no representation in the Cabinet. Mr Vanama Venkateswara Rao, who is from Khammam and defected on Thursday, may get a chance.

Sources said TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao will return to the ministry. It is not yet clear whether Mr T. Harish Rao will also stage a comeback.

Former MP Gutta Sukhender Reddy’s future is also hanging in the balance as he was not given a ticket in Assembly or Lok Sabha elections nor fielded for the Legislative Council polls. The CM had assured him that he would be taken into the Cabinet, according to sources close to Mr Sukhender Reddy.

Mr Sukhender Reddy cannot become an MLC unless the High Court clears the pending cases over disqualification of some MLCs. If he is made a minister, he should become an MLA or MLC within six months otherwise he will have to resign.

The woman minister is likely to be Ms Satyavathi Rathod who was elected to the Council recently, or Ms Gongidi Sunitha, the MLA from Aleru.