Ruling Congress MLAs G Vivek Venkata Swamy, Adluri Laxman Kumar and Vakiti Srihari were sworn-in as ministers in the Telangana government on Sunday, marking the first cabinet expansion under Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. Governor Jishnu Dev Varma administered the oath of office and secrecy at a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, his cabinet colleagues, MLAs and other leaders were present on the occasion. The induction of the three new ministers ends weeks of speculation over the expansion of the council of ministers headed by Revanth Reddy. It follows recent discussions between CM Revanth Reddy, state Congress president B Mahesh Kumar Goud, and the AICC leadership in Delhi regarding cabinet appointments and party posts.
The full strength of the Telangana cabinet, including the Chief Minister, is 18. With the induction of the three new ministers, the number of ministers rose to 15. Following the induction of the three new ministers on Sunday, now there are three vacancies in the cabinet. The appointment of state Congress office bearers, including the working president and others, has been pending since Goud took over as Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president in September, 2024.
In a post on X, Reddy also congratulated party legislator Ramchander Naik on becoming the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. The appointment of the three new ministers and the deputy speaker reflected the focus of ruling Congress on social justice.
Also read: KTR targets CM Reddy, says Telangana turned into ‘Congress ATM’
Vivek and Laxman Kumar belong to SC (Mala) and SC (Madiga) communities respectively, while Srihari is a leader who hails from the backward classes.
Ramchander Naik represents the ST community.
Vivek Venkata Swamy, son of late Congress veteran G Venkataswamy, is a senior leader who had served as Lok Sabha member earlier. Popularly known as Vivek, he started his political career with Congress but also worked with the BRS and BJP before returning to the Congress ahead of 2023 assembly elections.
Vivek had also served as the president of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). Vivek's elder brother G Vinod is an incumbent Congress MLA, while Vivek's son Vamsi Krishna is a sitting Lok Sabha member.
The caste equation
The party leadership preferred Vivek from Chennur for the cabinet as it had promised him a berth at the time of his joining the Congress. Since Vivek is a Mala among Scheduled Castes (SCs), the party decided to allot a berth to the Madiga sub-caste of SCs to strike a balance and preferred A Laxman Kumar from Dharmapuri.
Interestingly, Vakiti Srihari, a Backward Class (BC) MLA from Makthal, is said to be the choice of the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.
The party high command, while clearing the three names, has reportedly made it clear that it would not consider any legislator from upper castes for filling the three vacant berths.
It has also made it clear to Munugode MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy that it cannot consider him since his elder brother, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, is already in the cabinet as Roads and Buildings Minister.
In fact, Rajagopal Reddy was offered a berth in the cabinet at the time of his joining the Congress, from the BJP but the party left him high and dry. It remains to be seen how he would react to his exclusion.
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