Former Indian cricket captain and senior Congress leader Mohammad Azharuddin has been sworn in as a minister in the Telangana cabinet. Governor Jishnu Dev Verma administered the oath to the former cricketer at Raj Bhavan this morning. His induction fills a long-standing vacancy and provides the Congress government with its first Muslim representation in the cabinet.
The Opposition in Telangana had framed the move as an electoral calculation aimed at the November 11 bypoll in the Jubilee Hills constituency, which has an estimated 30% Muslim electorate.
Objecting to the timing of induction, the BJP had written to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and alleged a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. BJP spokespersons argued that inducting a minister, especially one who had recently sought a ticket from the same seat, amounts to misuse of official power to influence the voters.
The ruling Congress justified the move as the fulfillment of a commitment to social justice. “The Congress party had made a commitment to ensure cabinet representation for minorities. Governments, even in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, always included a minority face. We are simply correcting a long-overdue imbalance,” Telangana Congress chief Mahesh Goud told NDTV.
Azharuddin is not a member of either the legislative assembly or the council yet—which is necessary to become a state minister. He has already been nominated to the legislative council under the Governor’s quota, but the Governor has not yet signed the proposal. He must be inducted as an MLC within the next six months to retain his ministerial post.
Mocking the BJP, Goud said even they had made an election candidate in Rajasthan a minister and that he was eventually defeated by his Congress rival. (NDTV)
