Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader Mohd Azharuddin on Friday inducted into the Telangana Cabinet, following an oath-taking administered by Governor Jishnu Dev Varma at Raj Bhavan on Friday. The new minister in the Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s Cabinet is likely to get the portfolio of Minority Welfare.

Speculations were also doing rounds that the minister is also likely to be given the Home portfolio, being held now by the Chief Minister.

Revanth Reddy and his Cabinet colleagues congratulated the former cricketer soon after the induction. Azharuddin’s appointment marks the second expansion of the Cabinet since the Congress government took office in December 2023, with three MLAs having previously been sworn in as ministers in June. Even after Azharuddin’s induction, two more Cabinet positions remain unfilled.

After the ceremony, Azharuddin expressed his gratitude and joy at the opportunity to serve as a minister. "My parents and family members are very happy to see me as a minister. I am grateful to the Congress high command, the Chief Minister and the state party leaders for giving me the opportunity. Referring to the allegations against him, he said: “They are not true. Union Minister Kishan Reddy does not have a complete understanding of me. My immediate duty is to see that the Congress win the Jubilee Hills election."