Governor promises to rise above party lines

Naveen S Garewal

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, September 1

Former Union minister and senior Telangana BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah for his appointment as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh.

The BJP leader, who was denied ticket from the Secundrabad Lok Sabha constituency during the recent parliamentary elections, said he would “rise above party lines and performs his duty as per Constitution”.

Considered to be the voice of the BJP in Telangana, where the BJP has won four Lok Sabha seats, Dattatreya was replaced by Union Minister of State for Home G Krishna Reddy from the Secundrabad seat but has now been adequately compensated for staying loyal to the party.

Expressing his gratitude to the Central BJP leadership, he told mediapersons here today that he would do whatever is expected from an impartial Governor. “Himachal Pradesh is a beautiful state, currently run by a BJP government and I see no issues whatsoever in performing my duties in the highest tradition of the Constitution”.

A four-time Lok Sabha member from Secundrabad and a former BJP president of undivided Andhra Pradesh, the 72-year-old BJP leader (born on June 12, 1947) has served as a union minister of state holding different portfolios in the A B Vajpayee Government and an MOS with independent charge of Labour and Employment in the Narendra Modi Government between November 2014 and September 2017. He was dropped during a Cabinet reshuffle.

He was also Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation from September 2003 to May 2004. Dattatreya, an RSS pracharak in the late 1960s, however, did not contest in the 2019 parliamentary elections after he was replaced as the BJP candidate with G Kishan Reddy.

According to information available to the media, he is a BSc graduate from Osmania University. He had also been a member of parliamentary committees during his tenure as a Lok Sabha member.

He was arrested during Emergency in late 1970s.

“There was no promise (offering Governor post) made to me even when I was dropped from the Cabinet (in the previous Modi government). And I have no regrets for not contesting the last elections”, he said.

K Laxman, BJP Telangana state president and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi working president KT Rama Rao have welcomed Dattareya’s appointment as Himachal Governor. “Many Congratulations to Sri @Dattatreya Garu on being appointed as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh. Wishing you a wonderful tenure in your new role sir,” Rao tweeted.