Muktadesh Desk: Former cricketer and Congress leader Mohammad Azharuddin took oath as a minister in the Telangana state government of India. Governor Jishnu Deb Verma administered the oath to him at the Raj Bhavan on Friday. Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, along with cabinet members and senior Congress leaders, were present at the oath-taking ceremony.
The Congress-ruled Telangana state government can have a maximum of 18 ministers. In that case, with Azharuddin becoming a minister, the number of ministers in the Telangana state government is 16. He is the only Muslim face to get a place in the cabinet.
The by-election for the Jubilee Hills assembly seat in the state is on November 11. Before that, Azharuddin’s inclusion in the Congress cabinet is very significant. In that case, it is believed that it will increase the chances of Congress winning that Muslim-dominated seat. Because the total voters in that assembly seat are about 3 lakh 90 thousand. Of these, about 1.20 lakh to 1.40 lakh voters are from the Muslim community.
The BJP has alleged that the Congress is playing a game of political appeasement by looking at the minority votes. In the upcoming by-elections, the major parties have fielded candidates from the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) candidate Maganti Sunita (wife of the late Gopinath), Congress’ Ballala Naveen Yadav and BJP’s Lankala Deepak Reddy.
However, Azhar said, “I am happy. I thank the party’s top leadership, the common people and the supporters. This has nothing to do with the Jubilee Hills assembly by-election. The by-election and my becoming a minister are two different things. One is not the same as the other.”
He also said, “Whatever responsibility is given to me, I will work honestly for the development of the
