MLC Patnam Mahender Reddy to be sworn in as minister in KCR Cabinet on Thursday

HYDERABAD: In a strategic move to iron out differences within the party and placate the frayed tempers of MLC Patnam Mahender Reddy, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has decided to induct him into the Telangana Cabinet.

Mahender Reddy would be sworn in the minister at 3 pm on Thursday.

While Congress candidate Pilot Rohit Reddy defeated Mahender Reddy of the TRS in 2018 Assembly elections, the Chief Minister let the MLA cross over into the ruling party. To mollify an angered Mahender Reddy, the Chief Minister accommodated him in the state legislative council.

Rohit Reddy shot into limelight within the party when he had demonstrated his unflinching loyalty to KCR when some middlemen, allegedly approached him and three other TRS MLAs , to switch sides to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the eve of Munugode by-election in November last.

The Cyberabad police laid a trap and caught the middlemen at Rohit Reddy’s farm house.

Ever since his joining the TRS, Pilot Rohit Reddy and Mahender Reddy have been at loggerheads. They didn’t have even the necessary cordiality between them.

Against this chaotic background, KCR decided to field Rohit Reddy from Tandur Assemblyseat which naturally irked senior leader Mahender Reddy. In fact, the senior leader’s wife is the Zilla Parishad chairperson of Ranga Reddy district.

Before announcing the party tickets, KCR summoned Rohit Reddy and Mahender Reddy and proposed a compromise formula as part of which the latter would be immediately inducted into the State Cabinet. The Chief Minister asked Mahender Reddy to work for the victory of Rohit Reddy.

Accordingly, Rohit Reddy called on Mahender Reddy at the latter’s residence and both leaders went and discussed with party activists in Tandur. Rohit Reddy said that he would work for the all round development of undivided Ranga Reddy district under the leadership of Mahender Reddy.