The Telangana state cabinet on Friday approved the nomination of former minister Baswaraju Saraiah, people’s poet-composer Gorati Venkanna and Venkanna, to the Telangana Legislative Council.
Saraiah, Venkanna, and Vysya community leader Boggarapu Dayanand’s names were approved after the cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao held on Friday.
According to the Chief Minister's Office, the government has sent these names to Governor Tamilisai Soudararajan for approval.
Former Andhra Pradesh minister Baswaraju Saraiah hails from the Rajaka washermen community, recognised as a backward class community. The 59-year-old from Warangal district had served as the minister for Backward Classes Welfare in the Congress government in undivided Andhra Pradesh between 2012 and 2014.
Saraiah, who was elected to the former united Andhra Pradesh Assembly in 1999, 2004 and 2009, joined the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in 2016.
Gorati Venkanna, also known as Venkataiah, is a popular Telugu poet-composer. The 57-year-old from Nagarkurnool district, has authored various books. He received several awards including Kabir Samman from Madhya Pradesh in 2019, Hamsa Award for Literature by the Andhra Pradesh government in 2006 and Kaloji Award by the Telangana government in 2016.
Boggarapu Dayanand took voluntary retirement when he was the Deputy Director of Protocol in the Andhra Pradesh government in 2003. He later joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He has served in various positions in TDP before joining TRS in 2014.
Dayanand, who was born in 1954, hails from the Vysya community. He is the chief advisor of Vysya Seva Kendram and leader of Arya Vysya Sangham.