Governor rejects Cabinet recommendations on MLC nominations

Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan has rejected the nominations of Dr Sravan Dasoju and Kurra Satyanarayana as MLCs under the Governor’s quota.

Hyderabad: Stirring up yet another political controversy ahead of the Assembly elections, Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan on Monday rejected the State Cabinet’s recommendation nominating Dr Sravan Dasoju and Kurra Satyanarayana to the MLC posts under the Governor’s quota. Interestingly, she returned the files to the State government saying that politically aligned persons should be avoided to fill up nominated posts, in the process, conveniently forgetting that she herself had held multiple positions in the BJP before being nominated as Governor.

In a letter addressed to the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary, the Governor claimed that both candidates failed to meet the prerequisites outlined in Article 171(5) of the Indian Constitution and “lacked significant achievements” to warrant consideration for the positions. She also claimed that reports from neither intelligence nor other agencies indicated that they do not incur disqualification under Section 8 to 11 (A) of the Representation of the Peoples Act 1951.

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“Avoid such politically aligned persons to fill up nominated posts under Article 171(5) of the Constitution of India, defeating its objective and enactment and consider only genuinely eminent persons in the respective fields,” she said in the letter.

Soundararajan’s move against the recommendations of the State Cabinet is nothing new. She had earlier rejected the nomination of Padi Kaushik Reddy as MLC under the Governor’s quota and also kept several bills pending without giving her consent for a long time. It was only after receiving severe public criticism that the Bills pertaining to appointments in the State universities and others were cleared recently.

However, the Governor’s latest decision citing ‘political alignment’ of the candidates is drawing severe flak from the BRS as well as the public on social media platforms.

In a sharp reaction, Legislative Affairs Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy said Soundarajan was politicising her role and questioned her rejection of Dasoju Sravan and Kurra Satyanarayana, both social activists, as MLCs. He contended that such rejections were an insult to the Most Backward Classes (MBCs), Scheduled Caste (SC) and and Schedule Tribe (ST) communities in Telangana. He pointed out Soundararajan’s own political background as a State BJP president before being appointed as the Governor, suggesting her to resign, if any moral values were left in her.

Forest Minister A Indrakaran Reddy also criticised the Governor’s decision, terming it as a mark against the federal spirit and an interference in the State’s politics by the BJP government at the Centre. He argued that the Governor’s rejection of the State Cabinet’s recommendation for nominating Dasoju Sravan and Kurra Satyanarayana went against the principles of democracy. He emphasised that there was no precedent for a Governor taking such actions in the past.

Several netizens took to social media platforms questioning the Governor’s repeated attempts to belittle the State Cabinet’s decisions. They wondered if Soundararajan had strategically rejected the nominations ahead of the Assembly elections in Telangana. Her pointed suggestions at the political alignment of the candidates, also was questioned by many netizens wondering whether her decision itself was politically motivated.