In a surprise development, the Telangana government headed by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has nominated well-known poet and singer Gorati Venkanna as the member of state legislative council under Governor’s quota.
A decision to this effect was taken at the state cabinet meeting held at Pragati Bhavan on Friday. Apart from Venkanna, the cabinet also decided to nominate former minister Baswaraju Saraiah, who heads the national washermen’s association for the MLC post.
Similarly, Chief Advisor of Vysya Seva Kendram and a prominent leader of Arya Vaishya Sangham Boggarapu Dayanand has also been finalised by the State cabinet for the MLC post.
“The government has sent these names to Governor Tamilisai Soudararajan for approval,” a statement from the chief minister’s office said.
While Saraiah and Dayanand have political backgrounds, only Gorati Venkanna is the non-political person to be nominated under the Governor’s quota.
There was a talk that the MLC post would be given to another popular Telangana activist and singer Deshapati Srinivas, but for the reasons known only to him, KCR selected Venkanna, whose songs in Telangana folk inspired the movement for separate state.
