Three congress MLAs took oath as Telangana cabinet ministers
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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.The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Raj Bhavan at 12 noon, according to official sources.
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 marks the first cabinet reshuffle since the Revanth Reddy government took office in December 2023.
Revanth Reddy and state Congress president B. Mahesh Kumar Goud engaged in discussions with AICC leaders in Delhi regarding the induction of new ministers and the appointment of office bearers for the state Congress unit.
Vivek and Laxman Kumar come from the SC (Mala) and SC (Madiga) communities, respectively, while Srihari represents the backward classes. Ramchander Naik hails from the ST community.
Vivek Venkata Swamy, son of late Congress veteran G. Venkataswamy, is a seasoned politician who previously served as a Lok Sabha member.
Popularly known as Vivek, he began his political career with Congress but later worked with the BRS and BJP before rejoining Congress ahead of the 2023 assembly elections.
Beyond politics, Vivek also served as president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). His elder brother, G Vinod, is a sitting Congress MLA.
The appointment of state Congress office bearers, including the working president, has been pending since Goud assumed the role of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president in September 2024.
With the induction of three new ministers, the Telangana cabinet now stands at 12 members, including the Chief Minister.
While the full sanctioned strength is 18, six positions remain vacant, leaving scope for further expansion. Even after Sunday’s swearing-in, three cabinet berths will still be unfilled.
(with agency inputs)
