Hyderabad: Congress MLAs G Vivek Venkata Swamy, Adluri Laxman Kumar and Vakiti Srihari were sworn in as ministers in the Telangana government on Sunday. They were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Jishnu Dev Varma at a ceremony held in the Raj Bhavan here.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, his cabinet colleagues, MLAs and other leaders were present on the occasion. The move ends weeks of speculation over the expansion, which followed consultations with the AICC leadership in Delhi. This marks the first cabinet expansion since the Revanth Reddy government assumed office in December 2023.
Revanth Reddy and state Congress president B Mahesh Kumar Goud have held several meetings with the AICC leadership in Delhi on the induction of new ministers and appointment of office bearers of state Congress unit. The appointments reflects the focus of the Congress government on social justice.
Vivek and Laxman Kumar belong to SC (Mala) and SC (Madiga) communities respectively, while Srihari is a leader who hails from the backward classes. Ramchander Naik represents the ST community. Vivek Venkata Swamy, son of late Congress veteran G Venkataswamy, is a senior leader who had served as Lok Sabha member earlier.
Popularly known as Vivek, he started his political career with Congress but also worked with the BRS and BJP before returning to the Congress ahead of 2023 assembly elections. Vivek had also served as the president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). His elder brother G Vinod is an incumbent Congress MLA.
The appointment of state Congress office bearers, including the working president and others, has been pending since Goud took over as Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president in September, 2024. With the induction of three new ministers, the strength of the Telangana cabinet rises to 12, including the Chief Minister. Against the full sanctioned strength of 18, six positions still remain vacant, leaving room for further expansion.
