Ministry for Azharuddin a desperate move by Congress, says KTR

Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) on Thursday, October 30, said that Congress has made a “desperate move” by offering a ministry to Mohammed Azharuddin ahead of the Jubilee Hills by-elections.

In a post on X, the former Telangana minister said, “I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. After 2 years in Govt, looks like Congress party is finally waking up to ground realities.”

KTR alleged that the Congress is inducting the former Indian cricket captain into the cabinet as a “cover-up for its failure to deliver promises made to film artists in Jubilee Hills.”

He pointed to the ministers “desperately running around in Hyderabad lanes like never before, to woo the voters.”

Azharuddin to be inducted into Telangana cabinet

KTR’s remark comes after reports of Azharuddin being inducted into the Telangana cabinet through an MLC post via the Governor’s quota were circulated on Wednesday. The former Congress MP is likely to be sworn in as minister on Friday.

The decision comes after the Telangana government proposed the former Indian cricket captain, News Editor of The Siasat Daily, Amer Ali Khan and Prof M Kodandaram’s names as MLCs in the Governor’s quota.

According to political experts, Azharuddin’s inclusion in the cabinet is aimed at appealing to minority voters, who form a majority in the Jubilee Hills assembly constituency where bypolls are due. In the 2023 Telangana elections, he contested as a Congress candidate but lost to late BRS leader Maganti Gopinath, whose recent demise has necessitated the by-election.

After quitting cricket, Azharuddin began his political career in 2009 and won the Lok Sabha seat from Moradabad on a Congress ticket. In 2018, he was appointed working president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee.