BJP alleges KCR not forming full Cabinet even after 50 days of govt formation

The BJP in Telangana Friday found fault with the ruling TRS for not forming a full Cabinet even over 50 days after the government assumed office, claiming that principles of the Constitution emphasise on putting in place a council of ministers. "The government is being run by officials, there is no cabinet. It's not a delay of one or two days... After four days, it is going to be two months since KCR (Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao) assumed office," BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao told reporters.

After his party's spectacular victory in the December 7 assembly elections, Chandrasekhar Rao took over as Chief Minister for a second term on December 13. Mohd Mehmood Ali was the only minister to take the oath of office along with him. It is a "new record in India" that there has been no full Cabinet in close to two months and a "matter of shame" for Telangana, he claimed.

The BJP spokesperson said Article 163 of Constitution talks about the council of ministers to be in place to aid the Chief Minister and the Governor. "Government means the council of ministers. Assembly means the council of ministers. CM is the Head of the council of ministers. There are no ministers and you are Head of what," he said. This attitude amounted to an insult to democracy, he claimed. BJP would submit representations to the President and the Governor if a full cabinet is not formed soon, he said.

The Governor should summon the Chief Minister and advise him to form a full cabinet, he said. Rejecting the opposition charges of delay in forming a full cabinet, TRS spokesperson Abid Rasool Khan had earlier said the government appointed a committee of senior IAS officers to streamline the entire administration.

There are about 60 departments in the government and the state can have a maximum of 17 ministers as per the constitutional cap of 15 per cent of the assembly strength, he had said. The Telangana Assembly has 119 members. The Congress has also been attacking the government over the delay in the formation of the full cabinet.

(With inputs from agencies.)