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NDTV
9 hours ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Revanth Reddy Expands Telangana Cabinet, 3 Ministers Sworn-In
Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Sunday expanded his Cabinet by inducting three ministers. G Vivek Venkataswamy, Adluri Laxman Kumar and Vakiti Srihari were sworn in as ministers by Governor Jishnu Dev Varma at Raj Bhavan. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, his Cabinet colleagues, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Mahesh Kumar Goud and senior officials attended the ceremony. Vivek took oath in English while the remaining two were sworn in Telugu. This is the first expansion in the Cabinet, which was formed on December 7, 2023, with the swearing-in of the Chief Minister and 11 ministers. The long-delayed expansion took place after the All India Congress Committee (AICC) cleared the names of three ministers. Though there are vacancies in the Cabinet, the party leadership decided to keep three posts vacant. The state can have a maximum of 18 ministers, including the Chief Minister. Vivek Venkataswamy, a former MP and son of former Union Minister G. Venkataswamy, and Government Whip Adluri Laxman are from the Scheduled Castes, while Srihari is from the Backward Classes. Ramachandru Naik is a tribal MLA. Venkataswamy, an industrialist, had quit the BJP to join Congress a few weeks before the 2023 Assembly elections. He was elected to Parliament in 2009 from the Peddapalli constituency. He later joined TRS (now BRS) to put pressure on the Congress over the demand for statehood for Telangana. After the Telangana Bill was passed in the Parliament in 2014, he returned to Congress. He again returned to the TRS in 2016. In 2019, he resigned as advisor to the Telangana government and quit the ruling party after he was denied a ticket to contest from the Peddapalli Lok Sabha seat. He joined the BJP, which he quit again in November 2023 to return to Congress. He was elected to the Assembly from Chennur constituency in Mancherial district in 2023, defeating sitting MLA Balka Suman of BRS. Adluri Laxman Kumar is a senior Congress leader and first-time MLA from Dharmapuri in Jagitial district. Srihari, who began his political career as a Youth Congress leader, has also been associated with Congress for over three decades. He was elected to the Assembly from the Makthal Assembly constituency in Narayanpet district. Earlier, the Chief Minister also announced that Ramachandra Naik will be appointed as Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. He is an MLA from Dornakal constituency in Mahabubabad district.
United News of India
9 hours ago
- Politics
- United News of India
Three new Ministers sworn in at Raj Bhavan in the presence of CM Reddy
Hyderabad, June 8 (UNI) Telangana Governor Vishnu Dev Varma administered the oath of office to the newly appointed ministers—Adluri Laxman Kumar, Vakiti Srihari, and Gaddam Vivek Venkataswamy—at a solemn swearing-in ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan on Sunday. The event was attended by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Legislative Council Chairman Gutta Sukhender Reddy, Legislative Assembly Speaker G Prasad Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, State Ministers, several MPs, MLCs, MLAs, government advisors, corporation chairpersons, and senior officials. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy emphasised the government's commitment to social justice and inclusiveness by inducting leaders from marginalised communities. Gaddam Vivek, Adluri Laxman, and Vakiti Srihari represent the SC Mala, SC Madiga, and BC Mudiraj communities, respectively. With the inclusion of Vivek and Laxman, the number of Dalit ministers in the cabinet has now reached four. Additionally, out of the seven BC MLAs elected from the Congress party, three have now been given cabinet posts, including Ponnam Prabhakar, Konda Surekha, and Vakiti Srihari. Ramachandru Nayak, a first-time MLA from Dornakal, have appointed as the Deputy Speaker of the Telangana Legislative Assembly. Representing the ST Lambada community, Nayak's appointment reflects the government's focus on equitable representation. Vakiti Srihari, currently an MLA from the Maktal constituency in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district, began his political career with the Congress party and held various grassroots leadership positions. He served as Maktal village sarpanch from 2001 to 2006 and ZPTC from 2014 to 2018. He later rose through the ranks to become the district president of the Congress. In the 2023 Assembly elections, he won from Maktal with a majority of 17,525 votes, securing a cabinet berth under the BC quota. Gaddam Vivek Venkataswamy, son of senior Congress leader G. Venkataswamy, studied at Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, and earned his medical degree from Osmania Medical College. He was elected as an MP from Peddapalli in 2009 and played a prominent role in the Telangana statehood movement, actively raising the issue in Parliament. Vivek's political journey saw him move between Congress, BRS, and BJP before returning to the Congress and winning from Chennur in 2023. His son Gaddam Vamsi is currently the Congress MP from Peddapalli. Adluri Laxman Kumar, currently representing the Dharmapuri constituency, has been associated with the Congress since his student days. He served in various capacities in NSUI and Youth Congress, including as General Secretary at the state level. Though he faced several electoral defeats, including in 1999, 2009, 2010, 2014, and 2018, he remained active in public life and party organisation. In 2023, he won from Dharmapuri with a majority of 22,039 votes over former minister Koppula Eshwar and was later appointed as the Government Whip. He has now been inducted into the state cabinet for the first time. UNI VV ARN
