If not a Cabinet berth, at least the post of parliamentary secretary or chief whip and whips of the Assembly is what the aspirants who are anxiously awaiting the expansion of the Cabinet next week expecting for themselves.
Their expectations apparently are not misplaced because, sources said, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao contemplated creation of 12 parliamentary secretary posts in the rank of Cabinet ministers by enacting a legislation that will stand legal scrutiny. The posts of whip and chief whip are also of Cabinet rank.
The government did not want a repeat of the bitter experience of appointing six Parliamentary secretaries through an order in 2014 and backing it up later with the Telangana Parliamentary Secretaries (Appointment, Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2015. The court had held the government order illegal as it was not in accordance with the business rules of the Legislature. Now, the government was changing the business rules and bringing a new Act for the purpose that also qualified the Parliament Secretaries to respond to questions or debates in the Assembly in the absence of Ministers, sources said.
Making rounds
In their pursuit to corner some post or the other as they expected a huge expanse of opportunities available in the coming days, the aspirants have been regularly meeting TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao or tried catching the attention of the Chief Minister though his close aides. Indications that Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao proposed to give representation in the posts to all the 33 new districts in the State fuelled their aspirations. The likely posts of Cabinet rank, 35 in all, more than covered the districts. They included 17 ministerial berths, excluding the Chief Minister, 12 parliamentary secretaries, three whips and one post each of the chief whip, Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
The aspirants expected the expansion of the Cabinet by eight more ministers and the appointment of parliamentary secretaries to take place on January 18. The election of the Speaker was also scheduled on the same day but Mr. Rao could take up the appointment of the whips and the deputy speaker any time before the conclusion of the budget session on January 20, sources added.
Among the regulars to the TRS office to meet the working president were Mr. V. Srinivas Goud, Mr. T. Srinivas Yadav, Mr. E. Dayakar Rao, Mr. Muthireddy Yadagiri Reddy, Mr. Puvvada Ajay Kumar, Mr. S. Jagdish Reddy and Mr. S. Niranjan Reddy. Many aspirants also tried their luck to meet the Chief Minister at his camp office.