Hyderabad— Former Indian cricket captain and Congress leader Mohammad Azharuddin was sworn in as a minister in Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s cabinet on Friday. The oath-taking ceremony took place at Raj Bhavan, where Governor Jishnu Dev Verma administered the oath in the presence of senior leaders, including the Chief Minister.
With Azharuddin’s inclusion, the Telangana cabinet now has 16 ministers, leaving two vacancies as the state can have a maximum of 18 under its Assembly strength.
The appointment of the 61-year-old former cricketer is seen as a strategic political move by the Congress, especially ahead of the Jubilee Hills bypoll, where Muslim voters—estimated to be over one lakh—could significantly influence the outcome.
The by-election was necessitated by the death of BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath in June due to a heart attack. Azharuddin had contested from the same Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency in the 2023 state elections but lost.
Earlier in August, the Telangana government had nominated Azharuddin for the Legislative Council (MLC) under the Governor’s quota. However, Governor Verma has yet to approve the nomination formally.
Party insiders view Azharuddin’s induction into the cabinet as a signal to minority voters and an effort to bolster Congress’s presence in Hyderabad’s key constituencies.
