Hyderabad: Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya, the lone Telangana face in the Narendra Modi Cabinet, tendered his resignation on Friday ahead of Sunday’s Cabinet reshuffle.
Sources in the BJP central leadership reportedly sought Mr Dattatreya’s resignation and offered him a Governor’s post.
Sources said he would be offered the Governorship just before the 2019 polls to avoid a bypoll for the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat that he holds.
Mr Dattatreya, 70, known to be ‘soft spoken’ and is seen as not having put up a strong fight against TRS and was not in a position to tour the districts due to his age.
BJP president Amit Shah has laid special focus on Telangana state for 2019; he has repeatedly visited the state and taken on the TRS government. He is to visit the state for three days later this month.
The BJP is looking at ‘Operation Akarsh’ to induct prominent leaders from the TRS, Congress and the TD into the party fold.
A four-time MP from Secunderabad, Mr Dattatreya had earlier served as Union minister of state for railways, urban development and poverty alleviation in the A.B. Vajpayee Cabinet from 1998 to 1999 and between 2000 and 2004. He lost the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
Born on June 12, 1947, Dattatreya joined the RSS in 1965 and worked as a pracharak from 1968 to 1989.
While TS BJP leaders confirmed that he had resigned, Mr Dattatreya, who is in New Delhi, was not available for comment.
