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Gutta Sukhender Reddy drags D Srinivas to court

It looks like KCR’s list of advisers with Cabinet rank is unending
Hyderabad: Newly-appointed adviser D. Srinivas has been dragged to the court by a former party colleague, Nalgonda Congress MP Gutta Sukhender Reddy. “The case will come up for hearing on August 31.
Though he will automatically become a party (to the case), I will bring to the notice of the High Court the appointment of a new adviser to the government, D. Srinivas, with Cabinet rank. It looks like Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s list of advisers with Cabinet rank is unending, which is a blatant violation of the Constitution,” Mr Sukhender Reddy told DC.
The MP had recently secured a stay on the appointment of six parliamentary secretaries from the High Court. The court had said that any more appointments would need its approval. Mr Srinivas, who quit the Congress and joined the TRS recently, was appointed adviser to the government on inter-state affairs and given Cabinet rank.
“The appointment is yet another case of political rehabilitation. DS only knows the residences of AICC president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi and has zero knowledge about other states. He was never a Union minister nor an MP,” Mr Sukhender Reddy said.
“The TRS government is trying to circumvent constitutional provisions. I do not understand the need to have 20-odd people with Cabinet rank including seven advisers. Looks like the CM will have one adviser for every district,” the MP said.
As per the Constitution (91st Amendment) Act, 2003, the total number of ministers, including the CM, in the Council of Ministers in a state shall not exceed 15 per cent of the total number of MLAs of that state. The Telangana government has 18 Cabinet ministers and 20 others with Cabinet rank, including seven advisers after Mr Srinivas’ induction.
Previously, a division bench of the Hyderabad High Court comprising the then Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar had stayed the appointment of six parliamentary secretaries with Cabinet rank. Mr Sukender Reddy and Telangana TD MLA A. Revanth Reddy had opposed the “political rehabilitation” of leaders with Cabinet rank in violation of constitutional norms.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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