Hyderabad, August 30 — The Telangana Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, on Saturday decided to nominate former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) president M. Kodandaram as Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) under the Governor’s quota. Their names will be forwarded to Governor Jishnu Dev Varma for approval.
The decision comes just two weeks after the Supreme Court stayed the appointments of Kodandaram and journalist Amer Ali Khan as MLCs under the same quota. Both were sworn in nearly a year ago, but the apex court held that the swearing-in was improper in view of its interim orders, clarifying that any future appointments under the Governor’s quota would remain subject to the outcome of ongoing legal proceedings.
The nomination of Azharuddin surprised many, as he was widely expected to contest the upcoming by-election to the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency, left vacant after the death of sitting BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath on June 8. Gopinath had defeated Azharuddin in 2023 by over 16,000 votes. Although Azharuddin had expressed willingness to contest again, Congress leaders later clarified that the party had not finalized its candidate for the bypoll.
Azharuddin, who joined the Congress in 2009, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, the same year. He lost from Rajasthan’s Ton-Sawai Madhopur in 2014 but remained active in party affairs. In 2018, he was appointed Working President of the Telangana Congress. Despite contesting from Jubilee Hills in 2023, he was unsuccessful against the BRS candidate.
Meanwhile, the legal tussle over nominations to the Council under the Governor’s quota continues. In July 2023, the then BRS government had recommended the names of its leaders Dasoju Sravan and Kurra Satyanarayana. However, then Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan rejected the proposal, citing their political alignment. The Telangana High Court later quashed her decision, ruling that the Governor could only return the recommendations once for reconsideration.
As the Congress came to power, the Cabinet re-nominated Kodandaram and Amer Ali Khan in August 2024, and they were sworn in in January 2024. But their nominations were set aside by the High Court in March after petitions from Sravan and Satyanarayana, who subsequently moved the Supreme Court.
The apex court has since made it clear that any fresh nominations would be subject to the outcome of the pending petitions, keeping the issue far from settled even as the Congress government pushes ahead with its latest recommendations.
