Two ministers from Telangana as Kishan Reddy retained, Bandi Sanjay makes his debut

HYDERABAD: The Telangana BJP, which bolstered the party's national tally with eight MPs, has been rewarded with two ministerial berths in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) govt. While G Kishan Reddy (Secunderabad) has been nominated as cabinet minister again, firebrand Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar has made his debut as minister of state.
However, the non-induction of another MP, Eatala Rajender (Malkajgiri), into the cabinet sparked speculation that he would soon be declared as the Telangana party chief, replacing Kishan Reddy.
In 2014, Bandaru Dattatreya was the only minister from Telangana during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first term. In the next term in 2019, when the party won four seats from Telangana, only Kishan Reddy was appointed, initially as minister of state but later raised to cabinet rank.
Though there was talk of three ministers from Telangana this time, the leadership limited it to only two to accommodate alliance partner TDP (two ministers) which has 16 MPs and is crucial for the NDA govt.
Initially, the names in circulation from Telangana also included D Arvind (Nizamabad), DK Aruna (Mahabubnagar) and Konda Vishweshwar Reddy (Chevella). But soon it came down to Kishan Reddy, Sanjay and Eatala (as reported by TOI).
The BJP has a tradition of not making first-time MPs as ministers, with some exceptions, and those who are inducted are not given cabinet status immediately. As a result, Sanjay was appointed minister of state. According to sources, Sanjay, like Eatala, had lobbied strongly for the position. Sanjay may be accommodated in home or defence, sources said.
There is speculation that Eatala may be chosen as state party chief soon after changes to the national committee with national president JP Nadda joining the govt and his three-year term coming to an end. According to reports, Eatala was called to see Amit Shah on Monday, adding credence to the belief that Eatala may replace Kishan Reddy as Telangana BJP chief.
When Kishan Reddy was appointed as party chief, it was agreed that it would be a temporary arrangement rather than the typical three-year term of party presidents.
But with Eatala missing out on cabinet berth, the party will seriously consider his name,” a source said
Aruna, for her part, had stated that she would not seek any position but accept it if the party decided to appoint her.
It was being speculated that if Nirmala Sitharaman and Smriti Irani were replaced in the cabinet, Aruna and Bharatiya Janata Party’s Andhra Pradesh chief and MP Daggubati Purandeswari could be considered.