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Aruna Studio, Barkatpura

Mungara Sunil, Will a mugshot at this studio shoot netas to poll glory?, November 21, 2018: The Times of India

A picture is worth a thousand words. A picture at Aruna Studio in Barkatpura, Telangana, tells a success story just as well as — if not better than — a lot of written words. Little wonder, netas and candidates trying their luck in the poll arena flock to this studio near Narayanguda flyover. This election, it was no different as leaders believe getting a photograph clicked here ensures a sure-shot win at the hustings.

For instance, Anil Kumar Yadav, Congress candidate from Musheerabad seat, rushed to the photo studio as soon as his name was cleared by the party. “I used the photos taken at Aruna Studio on my nomination papers, pamphlets, handouts, banners, festoons and campaign vehicles,” Anil told TOI. His father and GHMC Congress president Anjan Kumar Yadav had visited the studio in 2004 and 2009 before filing nomination for Secunderabad parliamentary constituency and gone on to win. “Obviously, I am following in my father’s footsteps and sentiment and filed my papers,” he said.

Not just Anil, senior leaders cutting across party lines — Ponnam Prabhakar (Karimnagar), Chada Venkat Reddy (Husnabad), P Shankar Rao (Shadnagar), K Laxman (Musheerabad), Ramreddy Damodar Reddy (Suryapet) and G Sunitha (Aler) — have also visited the studio hoping to boost their chances.

“Damodar Reddy was the first elected representative who visited our studio way back in 1994 soon after it opened. Since then, he has been visiting the studio,” studio owner N Satish told TOI.

Claiming that he maintains a record of all the politicians who come calling to his studio, 45-year-old Satish said that many TRS leaders too, like K T Rama Rao, T Harish Rao, Kadiam Srihari among others, call him to their residence owing to security reasons as they cannot come down to the studio.

2018

Telangana CM’s son KTR becomes farmer: 2014-18

Koride Mahesh, Telangana CM’s son KTR becomes farmer in last four years, November 20, 2018: The Times of India

KTR and his wife's assets
From: Koride Mahesh, Telangana CM’s son KTR becomes farmer in last four years, November 20, 2018: The Times of India

K T Rama Rao, son of Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, has transformed into a farmer in the past four-and-a-half years.

The affidavit he filed with his nomination papers for the Sircilla constituency on Monday stated that he is an agriculturist and a former minister and even showed agriculture income of nearly 60 lakh. Revenue from other sources was pegged at 14.57 lakh for 2017-18. In 2014, KTR had declared just "member of legislative assembly" as his profession.

The TRS candidate's income grew by 40% between two assembly elections. This included escalation in the market value of his immovable assets. KTR declared 5.67 crore assets and revenue. It was about 4 crore during the 2014 elections.

KTR's businesswoman wife Shailima has shown that her assets grew 10 times during the period. While the value of her assets was pegged at 4.20 crore in 2014, it now stands at 46 crore.

2019

CM has just one minister, as in Feb

Robin David, No Country For Ministers, February 15, 2019: The Times of India

KCR has just another minister in Telangana. The CM runs the state virtually alone

How many ministers does it take to run a state in India? According to Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, it would appear, his state with 119 assembly constituencies and a population of around 3.6 crore needs just two ministers – himself and his home minister, Mahmood Ali, who openly kisses KCR’s hand.

KCR was sworn in for a second term on December 13 last year after winning a snap assembly election by a landslide. More than two months on he has not formed his council of ministers, making it perhaps the first instance in independent India where a chief minister has run a state without ministers for such a long period.

At a time when most chief ministers worry about pleasing their MLAs and finding ways to circumvent the 91st Amendment of the Constitution which limits ministers to 15% of total legislators in an elected House, KCR has chosen to run Telangana virtually single handedly.

He ran the campaign for the assembly election on similar lines, banking on his image of a man who delivered Telangana by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh. And after winning the election he has sent out a message to his MLAs that he doesn’t need them as much as they need him. That he is man enough to run every single department of the government by himself if need be.

This unique situation raises interesting questions. Is a council of just two ministers constitutionally tenable? How much time can a chief minister take before announcing his council of ministers? Isn’t it important in a democracy that multiple voices are heard before decisions are taken for 3.6 crore people?

One could even argue about whether states should have ministers at all given that many chief ministers operate as virtual autocrats, taking all key decisions themselves. The ministers are there as mere showpieces. All KCR has done is take away the smokescreen. It is a one man show in Telangana and he makes no bones about it.

Past and present chief ministers of all political hues, like Narendra Modi, J Jayalalithaa, Mamata Banerjee and Yogi Adityanath, have operated or continue to operate as autocrats, ensuring that their ministers never step out of their looming shadows. Somewhere along the line democracy is smothered, but who cares in this age where so-called strong leaders are admired for their ability to steamroll the push and pull of democratic processes.

Legal experts say that when a governor invites someone to form government, he or she is inviting a leader who represents the party which has majority in the assembly. He is not inviting just a chief minister. The party and its many faces should be ruling a state, not just the chief minister. Also, the chief minister must be seen as first among equals, not as a supreme leader.

Article 163 of the Constitution states that there shall be a council of ministers with the chief minister at the head to aid and advise the governor in the exercise of his functions, barring exceptional circumstances. Further, according to Article 164, the chief minister shall be appointed by the governor and the other ministers shall be appointed by the governor on the advice of the chief minister.

Article 164 (1A) clearly states that the minimum number of ministers in a council must be 12. Only in the case of Sikkim, Mizoram and Goa does the 91st Amendment Act put the minimum strength at seven.

But experts also point out that the Constitution does not set a timeframe within which a council of ministers must be formed. The 91st Amendment Act of 2003, which limited the size of the council of ministers, was brought about by three sets of recommendations – the report on the Committee on Electoral Reforms, May 1990, the 170th Report of the Law Commission on Reform of Electoral Laws, 1999, and the Report of the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution, 2002.

The primary recommendation of the Act was amending the Tenth Schedule, which earlier recognised a split in a political party as legal if just one-third of the legislators defected to another party. The amendment made it mandatory for two-thirds to defect, and also put a ceiling on the number of ministers in a council. There is, however, no clarity on the timeframe within which the council has to be formed.

Legal experts further note that one can say having just two ministers is not a council, but dragging KCR to court over this would be tough without a time limit. If the government sees one-plus-one as a council of ministers and aids and advises the governor who then takes a policy decision, it can perhaps be challenged in court on the ground that there is no council as defined by Article 164 of the Constitution.

But more than the nitty-gritty of law, it is important to remember that a democracy thrives when there is some conflict, some angry exchange of ideas, beliefs and ideologies for decision-making to be truly democratic. Sterile consensus for one-man rule is nothing short of scary.

 12 of Cong’s 18 MLAs break away to join TRS

Sribala Vadlapatla, June 7, 2019: The Times of India

In a big jolt to Congress, which thought it was on the comeback trail in Telangana after winning three of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state, 12 of its MLAs were recognised as TRS members by speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy on Thursday evening after they submitted a letter seeking merger of their group with the ruling party.

This leaves Congress with just six MLAs in the 119-member house. Congress is set to lose the status of the second largest party in the house as that honour will now go to the seven-member AIMIM. TRS numbers have now gone up from 90 to 102 in the assembly.

Capping a day of hectic political developments, Reddy acceded to the request of the MLAs as their numbers met the requisite two-thirds strength of the legislature party for merger under the anti-defection law. A bulletin from the assembly at night said seats had been allotted to the 12 MLAs along with the members of the TRS legislature party in the house.

Another Congress MLA may join TRS soon

Until Thursday morning, the 11-member rebel group in Congress was one MLA short of the number required for defection. But things changed rapidly with Tandur legislator P Rohit Reddy joining their ranks.

Rohit Reddy decided to desert Congress a day after the party’s strength in the assembly fell to 18 following the resignation of TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy from the House as he has been elected from the Nalgonda Lok Sabha seat. Uttam Reddy protested against the move by targeting TRS, saying, “This is completely illegal. KCR is making a mockery of the mandate of the people of Telangana.”

Before meeting the speaker, the MLAs met TRS working president K T Rama Rao and sought his consent to merge their group with the TRS legislature party. After receiving a memorandum with signatures of 12 leaders, the speaker allowed the merger under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution and directed officials to allot them seats on the treasury benches in the assembly.

The MLAs who have switched sides are Atram Sakku, J Surendar, Sudheer Reddy, Haripriya Naik, R Kantha Rao, G Venkataramana Reddy, Vanama Venkateswar Rao, Rohit Reddy, Upendar Reddy, Ch Lingaiah, Sabita Indra Reddy and Harshavardhan Reddy. Sources said another Congress MLA, T Jayaprakash Reddy, may also join TRS soon.

See also

Andhra Pradesh (1953-2014)

Andhra Pradesh (June 2014 onwards)

Andhra Pradesh + Telangana: Parliamentary elections 2014

Andhra Pradesh: Assembly elections

Andhra Pradesh: Parliamentary elections

Andhra Pradesh: Political history