AP govt disqualifies TTD membership of senior TDP leader for not taking oath

Sandra Venkata Veeraiah did not take oath even 30 days after his appointment, as he is eyeing a Cabinet post in Telangana.
AP govt disqualifies TTD membership of senior TDP leader for not taking oath
AP govt disqualifies TTD membership of senior TDP leader for not taking oath
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In what appears to be an embarrassment for the TDP government in Andhra Pradesh, a party MLA who was nominated to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust board over 30 days ago did not take up the post. The government has now disqualified his membership, as the leader is expected to join the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) cabinet in Telangana.

Sandra Venkata Veeraiah was offered membership as a trust board member with the TTD in December but did not take the oath even after 30 days of appointment. Veeraiah is the MLA for Sattupalli assembly constituency in Khammam district of Telangana.

Speculations were rife about Veeraiah leaving the TDP and joining TRS after his four-hour long meeting with K Chandrashekar Rao at Pragathi Bhavan on January, shortly before taking oath in the assembly. He also had an hour-long meeting with the Telangana Speaker, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy before entering the assembly the same day to take oath.

When Veeraiah was asked by reporters about him leaving the TDP and joining the TRS cabinet, he reportedly said, “I will change the party after informing people of my constituency.”

All the Andhra Pradesh government could do was to issue a notice terminating the Veeraiah’s appointment to the TTD trust board. The notification issued by the endowments department found the MLA to be in violation of the AP Endowments Act of 1987, which mandates an appointed official to take charge within 30 days after nomination to the TTD trust board. If anyone fails to take oath within the stipulated time, their appointment becomes null and void.

Many MLAs, both from the Congress and the TDP, are expected to join TRS in the coming week with KCR expected to announce his full cabinet on February 19. KCR is forming his cabinet after more than 60 days of taking charge as the Telangana Chief Minister. He has attributed the delay in cabinet formation to his plans to reorganise the government with more departments under each ministry. This move is expected to increase the number of ministers in his cabinet.

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