Need more time to decide on Kaushik Reddy's nomination: Telangana Guv
Hyderabad, Sep 8: Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said on Wednesday that the state Cabinet's recommendation to nominate P. Kaushik Reddy to the Legislative Council is still under her consideration and that she needs more time to take a decision in the matter.
The Governor said that since the nominated post falls in the category of social service, she is trying to get information about Kaushik Reddy's social service works.
"It's correct that the Telangana Cabinet has cleared the name, but I have not cleared it yet. The nomination is for the upper house and the category is social service and because it's Governor's nomination, I need some time to study the nomination. I think I can take some more time," she said.
She was speaking to mediapersons on completion of two years as the Governor.
"Because it's Governor's nomination, I want to be doubly sure about the nominee and the nomination," the Governor added, but denied that she has any objection or any different opinion.
"It's not objection. I am studying the matter. The Cabinet endorsed it but since it's a nomination by the Governor and in the social service category, I need to compare certain things like social service activities and whether he fits into the category. I have the right to take some more time to study the matter," she said.
The state Cabinet had on August 1 decided recommend to the Governor to nominate Kaushik Reddy to the state Legislative Council.
The Cabinet's recommendation had come a few days after Reddy joined the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) following his resignation from the Congress.
Reddy had joined TRS on July 21, a week after he was expelled by the Congress for anti-party activities after an audio clip surfaced in which he could be heard claiming that he will contest the ensuing by-election to the Huzurabad Assembly constituency on the ticket of TRS.
Reddy, a former cricketer, had unsuccessfully contested as a Congress candidate from Huzurabad in the 2018 Assembly elections.
Replying to another query, Tamilisai said that her relations with Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao are good as she has made a clear demarcation between politics and Constitution.
She pointed out that a regional party is in power in the state while her base is different.
"As a Constitutional head, I can't say now that I belong to any party. I have maintained balance," she said.
Calling herself a sister of Telangana, the Governor said that during the Covid pandemic, floods or dengue, she wrote letters or made phone calls to stress the need for making more efforts to deal with the situation.
"It was not a matter of ego between me and the government. My approach has always been friendly," she said and claimed that the Chief Minister accepted her suggestion to integrate the Ayushmab Bharat scheme of the Central government with the Arogyasri scheme of the state government.
Tamilisai said the last six months have been hectic for her as she is also serving as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry.
"When I was appointed as the Governor of Telangana, it was a newborn state. I said as a gynecologist, I will handle the baby with much more satisfaction. When I landed in Puducherry, people said whether she can handle two states. I said I am a gynecologist, I can handle twins as well," she said.
She highlighted the various initiatives launched by her during the last two years to make the post of Governor more approachable and people-friendly.
Referring to the requests she received from the students for laptops to continue their studies, she said she arranged 4-5 laptops in coordination with NGOs and with some personal efforts.
"I am now collecting used laptops for distribution among the needy students," she said, as she appealed to the IT companies to come forward for this cause.