Secunderabad MP is to be MoS with independent charge

“With the blessings of people of Secunderabad and honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi I will be taking oath as the Union Minister today at 7 p.m. I seek your continued support,” tweeted newly-elected BJP MP Gangapuram Kishan Reddy on receiving the much awaited call from party president Amit Shah on Thursday afternoon.

It was evident from the beginning that Mr. Kishan Reddy would be taken into the Central Cabinet as soon as he won for the first time as MP and the BJP won a decisive majority in Parliament. The speculation was whether he would be the only one and whether he would be offered a major portfolio or he would be Minister of State with an independent charge. The last turned out to be true.

There was some chatter about ‘giant killer’ D. Arvind too getting the call after he had defeated K. Kavita from Nizamabad, it was not to be. In a way Mr. Reddy should consider himself to be lucky for having lost the Assembly polls from the Amberpet constituency, even if narrowly by a margin of little over 1,000 votes in December last.

Otherwise he would have had to be content with being an MLA for the fourth time and perhaps, someone else would have made the cut after it was decided by the central leadership to replace former Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya as party candidate from Secunderabad parliamentary constituency from where he won four times.

Perseverance pays

Mr. Reddy was born to farmers family of Timmapur village of Ranga Reddy district and his rise from being an ordinary party worker to Union Minister in a span of over three decades points towards his own perseverance and party’s organisation set up.

He first contested for the Karwan Assembly constituency in 1999 and lost. He later won from Himayatnagar in 2004 and subsequently twice from Amberpet constituency even withstanding the Congress-Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy wave in 2004 and again in 2009.

Mr. Kishan Reddy also won in 2014 when TRS fervour was at its peak.

In fact, he was the party’s lone MLA in 2004 and later became BJP’s floor leader in the Legislative Assembly and party chief in both united AP and TS.

“People of Telangana wanted to see Narendra Modi as Prime Minister again and it is reflected in our party winning from four constituencies for first time,” Mr. Kishan Reddy remarked at a recent victory celebrations in the party office last week.