Hyderabad: Following mounting criticism over the delay in naming political appointments to various public sector and other major institutions over the last two years, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday announced three such appointments. The announcements come a day before the one-day TRS plenary to be held in Khammam.
Observers say that Mr Rao’s announcement paves the way for more to follow.
The Chief Minister has appointed Balconda MLA Vemula Prashanth Reddy as deputy chairman for Mission Bhagiratha Water Grid Corporation. The post gives Mr Prashanth Reddy Cabinet minister status.
He is considered close to the Chief Minister and had been the man in-charge for the five-day Ayutha Chandi Maha Yagam held at Mr Rao’s Erravalli farmhouse.
The Chief Minister is the chairman of the Mission Bhagiratha Corporation that was constituted recently.
Mr Rao also appointed Devulapalli Prabhakar Rao, a native of Warangal and a prolific writer in Telugu as chairman of the Official Language Commission. The post too is of Cabinet rank.
Mr Prabhakar Rao hails from a family known for its literary contributions and he had earlier worked with the state medical and health department. The third appointment was of Mallepalli Laxmaiah, a senior journalist and co-chairman of the Telangana Political Joint Action Committee and a known Dalit voice. He has been named the special officer for the Buddha Vanam project at Nagarjunasagar.
With Tuesday’s appointments, aspirants who had been waiting for such postings are now expected to make a beeline for Wednesday’s TRS plenary to be in the good books of the Chief Minister. In fact, Mr Rao, while speaking at last year’s plenary at Nizam College Grounds in Hyderabad, had promised to fill the posts within three months.
