Hyderabad

In a relief to the Indian National Congress government in Telangana, Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla has approved the nomination of former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin and retired professor M Kodandaram as Members of the Legislative Council under the Governor’s quota, official sources said on Saturday.

The approval came after a prolonged wait, as Azharuddin, who was sworn in as a minister on October 31 last year, is required to become a member of the legislature within six months, by April 30.

The matter was discussed during a meeting between Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and the Governor on April 19.

B Mahesh Kumar Goud welcomed the Governor’s decision, saying the inclusion of prominent personalities in the Legislative Council would help strengthen governance.

Azharuddin had been nominated as an MLC under the Governor’s quota by the Telangana government in August last year.

Meanwhile, Kodandaram, who played a key role in the Telangana statehood movement as chairman of the Joint Action Committee of political parties, was nominated in 2024.

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The issue had also reached the courts after Sravan Dasoju and Kurra Satyanarayana, who were nominated during the Bharat Rashtra Samithi regime, challenged the rejection of their nominations by former Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan.