KCR to expand cabinet; BJP MLA refuses oath

For the first time in the history of Telugu states, a chief minister and his lone cabinet colleague sat on to discuss the nuts and bolts of Joint Session of legislative assembly and council as the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao who took oath on 13 December last, has inducted only Mohammed Mahmood Ali as home minister and was waiting for auspicious period.

Finally, the good days as per the pundits are ushering in and on 19 January at least eight more ministers will be sworn in at the Rajbhavan taking the total number of the ministers to ten including KCR. The sanctioned number of ministers is 18 for the state of Telangana. The General Administration department has already informed the Rajbhavan about the decision and arrangements are being made. However, the exact time of the ceremony is not yet known.

Sources say that K Taraka Rama Rao son of KCR and nephew T Harish Rao might not be roped in the second round as KTR took over as a party working president and is expected to be nominated as Chief Minister after father KCR moves to New Delhi. On the other hand, Harish Rao who has worked as state irrigation minister is expected to be fielded as an MP and will also move to New Delhi.

Pro Tem Speaker from Majlis

However, the choice of All India Majlis E Ittehadul Muslimeen’s MLA Mumtaz Ahmad Khan as Pro Tem speaker by the TRS chief has irked lone Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Raja Singh Lodh from Goshamahal here. It is a practice that the senior most MLA will be the Pro Tem speaker. The seventy-year-old Charminar legislator will be given oath by the Governor ESL Narasimhan who in turn will administer the oath to the newly elected MLAs.

In a video uploaded in Facebook, Raja Singh said that he will not stand before Khan. “ Raja Singh will not stand before the MIM MLA who talks about finishing Hindus. Majlis leader refuses to stand in respect of Vandemataram and refuses to say “Bharat Mata Ki Jai,” Raja Singh said. Raja Singh is known for his provocative statements against a particular community and he is so far booked under 43 cases under different sections of the law for promoting enmity between communities.