Telangana CM Urges Governor to Approve Azharuddin's MLC Nomination

Accompanied by Legislative Affairs Minister D. Sridhar Babu and Rajya Sabha MP Vem Narender Reddy, the Chief Minister called on the Governor at Lok Bhavan and requested him to clear the nominations under the Governor's quota.

The Chief Minister's meeting with the Governor came a day after Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao and Advocate General A. Sudarshan Reddy called on the Governor.

According to Lok Bhavan, they discussed administrative and legal matters related to the state.

It has been nearly six months since Azharuddin was sworn in as the minister. He is not a member of the Legislative Assembly or Council.

Azharuddin, who was sworn in as the minister on October 31, 2025, is constitutionally required to get elected to either the Assembly or the Council by April 30 to continue in the Cabinet.

The Telangana Cabinet had recommended the names of Azharuddin and Kodandaram for nomination to the Council under the Governor's quota on August 30, 2025. The Governor has not yet approved the file.

Last month, the Chief Minister had exuded confidence that the Governor will give the nod for nomination of both Azharuddin and Kodandaram.

He noted that the Supreme Court had recently observed that it had no objection in the matter and that the state government was free to pursue the issue with the Governor for clearance.

The Cabinet's decision to nominate former Indian cricket captain Azharuddin and Kodandaram as Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) under the Governor's quota in August last year came two weeks after the Supreme Court stayed the appointment of Kodandaram and Amer Ali Khan as MLCs under the Governor's quota.

Both Kodandaram and Amer Ali Khan were sworn in as MLCs in 2024. The apex court gave a stay on a petition filed by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders Dasoju Sravan and Kurra Satyanarayana, challenging the nominations made by the state government.

The petitioners had challenged the appointment on the ground that it violated interim orders of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court observed that swearing-in after the interim orders was improper and made it clear that any appointments made under the Governor's quota would be subject to the outcome of the ongoing legal proceedings.

While Kodandaram is the president of Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS), Amer Ali Khan is the News Editor of the Urdu daily.

Both Kodandaram and Amer Ali Khan were nominated to the Council under the Governor's quota after the State Cabinet again sent the recommendation to the Governor in August 2024.

They were nominated as MLCs in January 2024, but the High Court set aside the nomination in March on the petitions by Dasoju Sravan and Kurra Satyanarayana, whose nomination as MLCs was recommended by the previous government of BRS in July 2023. The same was rejected by then-Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on the grounds that the two were "politically aligned persons".

The High Court had quashed the Governor's decision, rejecting the nominations of Dasoju Sravan and Satyanarayana, and held that the Governor can only return the government's recommendation for reconsideration.

Following the High Court order, the BRS leaders had requested the Governor to nominate them as MLCs. However, as the BRS had lost power to Congress, the Governor rejected the request.

Sravan and Satyanarayana had challenged the Governor's refusal in the Supreme Court. As the High Court had not passed any orders to the Governor to nominate them, they pleaded with the apex court to give a direction to the Governor to appoint them. The Supreme Court had declined to pass any orders.

- IANS