Senior Congress leader and former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin began his new innings in politics on Friday when he was sworn in as a minister in the Telangana state cabinet headed by chief minister A Revanth Reddy.
Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma administered the oath of office and secrecy to Azharuddin at a simple and brief ceremony at Raj Bhavan.
Though it is believed that Azharuddin, being the only minority member in the Revanth Reddy cabinet, might be given the minority welfare portfolio, there is a talk within the Congress circles that the chief minister might entrust him with the all-important home portfolio as well.
During the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi government headed by K Chandrasekhar Rao, a Muslim minority leader – Mohd Mahmood Ali, who was also an MLC, was holding the home portfolio.
Maybe, Revanth might give Azharuddin the same home portfolio, apparently to appease the Muslims of Hyderabad, ahead of the Jubilee Hills assembly by-elections scheduled to be held on November 11.
Azharuddin, however, said he was ready to accept whatever ministry he would be allotted and expressed confidence that he would do justice to his job.
He said there was absolutely no connection to his induction in the cabinet and the Jubilee Hills by-elections.
Azharuddin entered public life by joining the Congress on February 19, 2009. He contested the Lok Sabha elections from Moradabad constituency in Uttar Pradesh and won the seat in 2009 elections.
Recognizing his popularity and leadership within the party, the Congress later appointed him as Working President of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) in 2018.
He contested as an MLA candidate from Jubilee Hills assembly constituency in 2023 elections but lost to Maganti Gopinath of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi.
In August this year, the Revanth Reddy cabinet recommended Azharuddin’s name for the MLC post, along with Prof M Kodandaram, under governor’s quota.
The file, however, has been pending with the Raj Bhavan due to an ongoing case before the Supreme Court regarding the earlier MLC nominations under the governor’s quota.
