BJP Names A. Maheshwar Reddy as Telangana Assembly Floor Leader
Hyderabad, Feb 14: After a prolonged delay, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has appointed A. Maheshwar Reddy as its floor leader in the Telangana Assembly.
More than two months after the Assembly elections, state BJP chief G. Kishan Reddy announced on Wednesday the appointment of Maheshwar Reddy, the MLA from Nirmal constituency, as the leader of the BJP Legislature Party.
In a letter addressed to the Speaker, Kishan Reddy officially conveyed the appointment of Maheshwar Reddy as the BJP-LP leader.
Maheshwar Reddy had defected from the Congress to join the BJP in April last year. At that time, he held the position of AICC programs implementation committee chairman.
Kishan Reddy also named Adilabad MLA Payal Shankar and Kamareddy MLA Venkata Ramana Reddy as deputy floor leaders, with Rama Rao Patel, the MLA from Mudhol, appointed as secretary.
Palvai Harish Babu, the MLA from Sirpur, was appointed as the chief whip, and Nizamabad Urban MP D. Suryanarayana Gupta as the whip. P. Rakesh Reddy, the MLA from Armoor, has been designated as treasurer.
With BJP winning eight seats in the 119-member Assembly during the November 30 elections, the appointment of the floor leader had been pending since December, reportedly due to a lack of consensus within the party.
Raja Singh, the controversial MLA from Goshamahal constituency in Hyderabad, was considered a strong contender for the post. As the only senior BJP leader elected on a party ticket for the third consecutive term, Singh’s candidacy drew attention.
Additionally, Kishan Reddy appointed A.V.N. Reddy as the floor leader of the BJP in the state Legislative Council. Reddy was elected to the Council from the teachers’ constituency of Hyderabad, Rangareddy, and Mahaboobnagar.
