HYDERABAD: Now that the dust has settled on the Lok Sabha elections, the focus in Telangana has shifted to potential contenders for ministerial positions in the Union cabinet.
Frontrunners include
Secunderabad
MP-elect G Kishan Reddy, Karimnagar MP-elect
Bandi Sanjay
and Nizamabad MP-elect
Dharmapuri Arvind
are in the reckoning.
Kishan Reddy
served as Union tourism minister in the outgoing Modi cabinet.
BJP had four MPs from Telangana in 2019 and doubled its tally to eight in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Senior leader and Malkajgiri MP Eatala Rajender has also emerged as a strong contender for a berth in the Union cabinet. Sources said Eatala has already lobbied with the party top brass to either appoint him as state party president or offer him a ministerial berth. Party national general secretary and Mahabubnagar MP DK Aruna on Wednesday said she was not lobbying for the post of Union minister. She said the party leadership will decide on the matter. She is also speculated to be one of the contenders for the central berth.
Senior leaders said that if a particular state unit wins 10 or more Lok Sabha seats, two berths - one cabinet rank and the other as a minister of state - will be given. If that state is vital to BJP's fortunes in Delhi and its performance is on the rise, the leadership may offer a third berth as well, sources said.
Refusing to hazard any guess on the number of berths Telugu MPs will get in the Union cabinet, sources said: "We do not know what's in store in the end. Depending on the cabinet berths, changes in the state party unit will also be effected. Some leaders may bag national-level nominations in the party."
First-time MPs are not usually preferred for a cabinet post in the BJP, except in exceptional cases. Kishan Reddy was made MoS soon after he was elected as an MP from Secunderabad in 2019.
Bandaru Dattatreya
was the first BJP MP from Telangana who was made a central minister in the Vajpayee ministry between 1998-99.
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