Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Thursday appointed Eslavath Ramchander Naik as chairman of the TS Scheduled Tribes Cooperative Finance Development Corporation Ltd (TSSTCFDC) in the tribal welfare department for a period of two years with immediate effect. Naik belongs to Nalgonda district.

The appointment assumes political significance in the backdrop of impending byelection to the Munugode Assembly constituency of Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy submits his resignation to the Speaker.

The Munugode constituency has a considerable chunk of ST voters and the move is aimed at attracting them to the ruling party fold. Rao is expected to shower some more sops on Munugode in the coming days besides nominating a few more leaders to various nominated posts in the government.