Decode Politics: A first for Telangana, why Congress appointed district guardian ministers

“We saw what a united party can do in the Assembly elections. The minister in charge will play an important role in keeping factions united and help us in the coming parliamentary polls,” said a Congress leader from Nalgonda, considered to be a Congress stronghold.

According to the leader, a person who is aware of the ground situation in the district is generally appointed as its minister in charge. The minister is also entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that administrative affairs run smoothly.

District guardians can also help the party expand its footprint. “If you see in Maharashtra, the current Deputy CM and Baramati MLA Ajit Pawar was successful in expanding the party (NCP) into Pune as he was its district in-charge minister. Similarly, we hope that our in-charge ministers will ensure the same across the state, especially in areas where the Congress is considered weak,” said the Congress functionary.

Who are the guardian ministers?

The 10 have been appointed as per the number of districts that existed when the state was formed in 2014. They were split into 31 districts in 2016 and two years later the number went up to the current 33.

While former Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy has been assigned the undivided Karimnagar district, Komatireddy Venkatreddy has been placed in charge of the erstwhile Khammam district. Damodar Raja Narasimha will be in charge of erstwhile Mahabubnagar while Duddila Sridhar Babu and Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy will be at the helm of the erstwhile districts of Rangareddy and Warangal.

Hyderabad will be handled by Ponnam Prabhakar while D Anasuya aka Seethakka and Konda Surekha will be in charge of the erstwhile districts of Adilabad and Medak. The undivided Nalgonda and Nizamabad districts have been allotted to Thummala Nageswara Rao and Jupally Krishna Rao.

Will this have an impact on the Lok Sabha polls?

The Congress that stormed to power in Telangana will look to expand its voter base in urban areas such as Hyderabad and Rangareddy that remained with the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). The appointment of the guardian ministers will also help the party with its efforts to establish a strong organisation in key areas like the BJP, which is looking to win around 10 of the state’s 17 Lok Sabha constituencies and relies heavily on urban voters.

The district ministers, a leader said, will play a key role in transforming possible triangular fights into one-on-one contests. “This will help the Congress as the possibility of splitting votes will be greatly reduced,” he said.

Which other states have district ministers?

The concept of a guardian minister or district in-charge minister has been in place since the Sushilkumar Shinde-led Congress government in Maharashtra in 2004. At present, the state has 20 guardian ministers. Assam began appointing ministers as district in-charges in 2021. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said the role of the minister would be to conduct reviews of schemes in the district and bring a quick resolution to public grievances. Karnataka too has guardian ministers.