Hyderabad: In the first cabinet expansion since assuming office, Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy inducted three Congress legislators, including G Vivek Venkata Swamy, Adluri Laxman Kumar, and Vakiti Srihari, into his council of ministers on Sunday, June 8.
Governor Jishnu Dev Varma administered the oath of office and secrecy at a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan, attended by Revanth Reddy, his cabinet colleagues, party MLAs, and other leaders.
Cabinet now at 15 members; 3 vacancies remain
The induction brings the total number of ministers in the Telangana cabinet to 15, leaving three posts vacant, as the full strength permitted is 18. The move comes after weeks of speculation and follows consultations between Revanth Reddy, state Congress chief B Mahesh Kumar Goud, and the AICC leadership in Delhi regarding cabinet and party appointments.
The new ministers represent a social justice-driven approach by the ruling Congress.
Vivek and Laxman Kumar hail from the Scheduled Caste (SC) (Mala) and SC (Madiga) communities, respectively, while Srihari comes from a backwards-class background. Additionally, Ramchander Naik, representing the Scheduled Tribes was appointed deputy speaker of the Legislative Assembly, a move Revanth Reddy acknowledged with a congratulatory post on X.
Vivek Venkata Swamy, son of veteran Congress leader G Venkataswamy, is a seasoned politician and former MP. Though he began his political journey with the Congress, he had brief stints with the BRS and BJP before returning to the party ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls. He also served as president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). His family remains politically active, with his brother G Vinod serving as an MLA and his son Vamsi Krishna currently holding a Lok Sabha seat.
Meanwhile, efforts are underway to pacify ministerial aspirants who were overlooked in the cabinet expansion. AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan and TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud visited the residences of Congress MLAs P Sudarshan Reddy and Prem Sagar, party sources said to PTI.
(With inputs from PTI)
(The copy has been updated with the latest information.)
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Tamreen Sultana | 
