Telangana Cabinet expansion: Revanth Reddy gets 3 new ministers, Congress says social justice a factor in appointments
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
Telangana Cabinet expansion: Revanth Reddy gets 3 new ministers, Congress says social justice a factor in appointments
The long-pending Cabinet expansion was finalised after consultations with Meenakshi Natarajan, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Telangana. Adluri Laxman Kumar, Gaddam Vivek Venkataswamy, and Vakiti Srihari were sworn in as Cabinet ministers on Sunday afternoon. They represent the Madiga (Scheduled Caste), Mala (SC), and Mudiraj (Backward Class) communities, respectively. “The AICC had decided that the Cabinet expansion should directly speak to socially marginalised communities. MLAs who come from socially backward communities are the Congress’s strength, the high command is of this opinion,” a party leader said.
Adluri Laxman Kumar, Gaddam Vivek Venkataswamy, and Vakiti Srihari were sworn in as Cabinet ministers on Sunday afternoon, with several party leaders pointing out that they represent the Madiga (Scheduled Caste), Mala (SC), and Mudiraj (Backward Class) communities, respectively. “The AICC had decided that the Cabinet expansion should directly speak to socially marginalised communities. MLAs who come from socially backward communities are the Congress’s strength, the high command is of this opinion,” a party leader said.
Advertisement
With the expansion, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s Cabinet has 15 ministers. Three more berths are vacant in the Cabinet, which can have 18 ministers.
“It was communicated to many aspirants that this expansion will be done keeping social justice in mind. It is the party’s strategy and everyone fell in line, even though some were reluctant,” a Congress leader said. Among the candidates who were in the running for ministerial berths were MLAs Sudarshan Reddy, Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, Prem Sagar Rao, and Malreddy Ranga Reddy. “The party leadership has been deliberating over their candidature for the past few months. But it was communicated to each of the aspiring leaders that the final decision rests with the AICC leaders,” said a Congress leader.
Who are the new ministers?
A Mala leader, Gaddam Vivek Venkataswamy is a former MP and the son of former Union Minister G Venkataswamy. Vivek Venkataswamy has been in other parties before being rewarded by the Congress. In 2009, he had quit the Congress to join the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and quit the BRS in 2019 to join the BJP. But before the 2023 Assembly elections, he returned to the Congress, which had, according to sources, promised him high offices if he were to win the Chennur seat in Mancherial district. He won the seat by over 27,000 votes, wresting the seat from the BRS.
Advertisement
The second minister sworn in, Adluri Laxman Kumar, is a Madiga leader and first-time MLA from Dharmapuri in Jagitial district. “We wanted to reward first-time MLAs like him because they are the future of the party,” a Congress leader said. Srihari, an OBC leader who began his political career in the Congress’s youth wing, was elected to the Assembly from Makthal constituency in Narayanpet district.
Apart from inducting three new ministers, the Congress also appointed Ramachandru Naik as the deputy speaker of the Assembly. Naik is a tribal leader and MLA from Dornakal in Mahabubabad district.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) leaders, meanwhile, said the new inductions were approved after consultations with the AICC. “The TPCC held several meetings with AICC leadership to arrive at these names. We are glad that a consensus was reached,” said a state Congress leader.