The difficult task of keeping everyone happy

The Hindu

10-06-2025

The recent Cabinet expansion in Telangana reflects the Congress's promised commitment to social justice. By inducting three Ministers — Gaddam Vivek and Adluri Laxman from the Scheduled Caste (SC) group and Vakiti Srihari from the Backward Classes (BC) group — as well as leaders from socially and economically backward communities for various posts, the party has attempted to realign its power structure to better represent historically marginalised groups. However, this has not come without friction, particularly from the dominant Reddy community, which feels ignored despite its numerical and political clout in the Assembly.
Of the seven BC MLAs in the Congress, three have been given Cabinet posts and two have been appointed as chief whip and whip. Among Ministers, Ponnam Prabhakar is from the Goud community, Konda Surekha belongs to the Padmashali community (with her husband hailing from the Munnuru Kapu community), and Vakiti Srihari comes from the Mudiraj caste. Pradesh Congress Committee chief A. Mahesh Kumar Goud is a Goud from the BC community. BCs enjoy more representation not just in the Cabinet, but also in key political roles.
Additionally, with the inclusion of Mr. Vivek and Mr. Laxman, the number of SC leaders in the Cabinet has increased to four. They are split equally between the Mala and Madiga sub-groups. This balance is critical in a State where internal divisions within SC communities have influenced political equations, particularly the Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti. Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, a Mala, holds the Finance portfolio, while former Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Raja Narsimha holds the Health portfolio.
Despite this progressive outlook, Congress has triggered dissatisfaction within its largest and historically most influential support base, the Reddy community. In the 119-member Assembly, 43 MLAs are from the Reddy community. Within the Congress, 26 of the 64 MLAs are from the Reddy community.
Those who have been left out include strong aspirants such as Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy, P. Sudarshan Reddy, T. Rammohan Reddy, and Malreddy Ranga Reddy.
Mr. Rajgopal Reddy, who played a key role in boosting the Congress's prospects by jumping ship from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before the elections, feels particularly aggrieved, especially since his political ally, Vivek Venkatswamy, was inducted into the Cabinet. Both leaders were promised a berth. When Mr. Rajgopal Reddy, Mr. Venkatswamy, and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) entered the Congress at around the same time, it created the perception that the BJP was losing ground and that the Congress was the only alternative to the BRS.
No one can deny impact of these leaders on the overall performance of the party even though Revanth Reddy, who was then PCC chief, strongly built an anti-BRS narrative. The BJP, which was looking strong, lost steam when Mr. Rajgopal Reddy and Mr. Venkatswamy exited the party at a crucial juncture. Mr. Rajgopal Reddy's brother, Komatireddy Venkata Reddy, is a Minister and hails from Nalgonda — a Reddy bastion. While being progressive in its politics, the Congress would also do well in ensuring that its traditional support base, the Reddy community, is kept happy.
While the Congress's caste arithmetic may have worked, the representation of regional and minority members leaves much to be desired. Key districts such as Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, and Nizamabad have gone not represented in the Cabinet. Muslims, and Lambadas among the tribal communities, have also been left out.
There is no Muslim MLA in the Congress fold. The party has only one Muslim MLC, Amer Ali Khan. To bridge this gap, Congress is considering fielding a Muslim candidate from Jubilee Hills in the coming by-election. The names of Mohd Azharuddin, a cricketer, and Faheem Qureshi, a confidante of the Chief Minister, are being floated.
To compensate for the absence of the Lambada community, the Chief Minister nominated Ram Chander Naik, an MLA from Dornakal, as Deputy Speaker. This complements the appointment of Gaddam Prasad Kumar, a Dalit, as Speaker. As a result, Telangana is perhaps the only State where both the presiding officers of the Assembly belong to the SC and ST communities, respectively.