Mohammad Azharuddin Sworn In As Minister In Telangana Cabinet

Congress leader and former cricketer and captain of the Indian team, Mohammad Azharuddin, was sworn in as a minister in the cabinet of Telangana Chief Minister on Friday. Governor Jishnu Dev Verma administered the oath-taking ceremony in a simple function held at the Raj Bhavan. Many important leaders, including Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, were present.

With the inclusion of Azharuddin, the total strength of the cabinet rose to 16. As per the Assembly strength, Telangana can have 18 ministers. The former cricketer’s appointment in the ministry can prove to be decisive for the Congress party, which is contesting the Jubilee Hills bypoll.

Azharuddin unsuccessfully contested from the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency in the 2023 polls. The constituency has over one lakh Muslim voters out of a total of four lakh voters and could prove to be decisive this time around.

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Why Is There A By-Poll In Jubilee Hills?

The bypoll in the Jubilee Hills constituency is necessitated due to the death of BRS MLA Magnati Gopinath in June this year, due to a heart attack. Earlier, Azharduddin was nominated as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) under the Governor’s quota by the Telangana government in the last week of August.

However, Governor Jishnu Dev Varma is yet to clear the appointment, making his induction in the council invalid, a problem raised by the opposition. "A man who lost the Jubilee Hills Assembly elections, who was not given a ticket in the current election--I would like to ask Revanth Reddy, why was he sidelined after losing the election and why is he being made an MLC and Minister now?" said Union Minister G Kishan Reddy over the inclusion of the former Indian cricketer.

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The Union Minister sharply criticised the Congress government's decision to appoint a new minister, alleging it was a "politically motivated" attempt to sway voters in the forthcoming by-election. The Minister specifically questioned the timing, remarking: "There has been no minority minister for the past two years. He is being made a minister just to win the Jubilee Hills by-elections."

Concurring with this view, leaders from the Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) asserted that the move was calculated to influence the electorate in Jubilee Hills, particularly since the newly appointed minister, Azharuddin, had previously run as a Congress candidate in that constituency.