Well, this is a tricky question. Normally, nothing bars a leader to become minister and contest a by-election. But it evokes a lot of criticism as it is not morally correct.
But, Minister in Telangana Cabinet Tummala Nageshwar Rao, who is contesting the by-election to Palair Assembly constituency in Khammam district, says he won’t quit either his MLC seat or the Cabinet post.
This is naturally going to lead to a lot of criticism from the opponents since Tummala, in the capacity of minister, can misuse official machinery to get elected in the by-election.
In the past, when TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao contested in the by-elections to Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat, Congress candidate T Jeevan Reddy, who was then a minister in Y S Rajasekhar Reddy cabinet, had resigned from the Cabinet and contested the polls.
But there is no hard and fast rule that a minister has to resign from the cabinet to contest the by-elections.
For that matter, former Chief Minister Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy contested the Assembly by-elections from Panyam in Kurnool district, when he was holding the CMO.
Yet, one would argue that it is not morally justified for Tummala to contest the Palair bypoll by continuing as minister. Will he set a healthy trend by quitting the Cabinet?
