Patnam Mahender Reddy Takes Oath As Minister

Just months ahead of the Telangana Assembly elections, BRS MLC Patnam Mahender Reddy today joined the State Cabinet.

He was administered the oath of office by Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan at the Durbar Hall in Raj Bhavan.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, ministers and other leaders participated in the oath-taking ceremony.

After the removal of Etala Rajender from the State cabinet, the position remained vacant till now. The CM appears to have decided to fill the vacancy keeping in mind the political situation in Vikarabad district at a time that the Assembly elections are approaching in the State.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, Congress candidate Pilot Rohit Reddy won against the BRS candidate Patnam Mahender Reddy from Tandur constituency in Vikarabad district. Rohit Reddy later joined the BRS, and since then there has been a struggle for supremacy between the two leaders in the constituency.

The BRS leadership reportedly gave the post of MLC to Patnam Mahender Reddy from the Rangareddy district local bodies' quota to put the party affairs in order in the constituency.

Then, BRS president and Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao gave the party ticket for the Tandur Assembly constituency last week to Pilot Rohit Reddy again. The CM appears to have taken Mahender Reddy into the cabinet to mollify him.