Azharuddin to Take Oath as Telangana Minister on Friday

Hyderabad, Oct 2025 : Former Indian cricket captain and senior Congress leader Mohammed Azharuddin will be sworn in as a minister in the Telangana Cabinet on Friday.

Governor Jishnu Dev Varma will administer the oath of office to Azharuddin at 12:15 p.m. at Raj Bhavan, officials confirmed on Thursday. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, and other cabinet colleagues are expected to attend the ceremony.

The development follows the state Cabinet’s decision in August to nominate Azharuddin as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) under the Governor’s quota. Party sources said he is likely to be allotted the Minority Welfare portfolio.

Azharuddin, 62, is currently the Working President of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) and a member of the party’s Political Affairs Committee. A former Member of Parliament from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, he has been an active Congress leader since joining the party in 2009.

His induction into the Cabinet comes ahead of the November 11 by-election to the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency, a politically sensitive seat with a significant Muslim electorate. The move is seen as an attempt by the Congress to reach out to the community, which accounts for nearly 30 per cent of the voters in Jubilee Hills.

Azharuddin had unsuccessfully contested from his home constituency in the 2023 Assembly elections. Although he was keen to contest again, the Congress leadership decided to field Naveen Yadav and assured Azharuddin a Cabinet berth instead.

Once sworn in, Azharuddin will become the first Muslim minister in Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s Cabinet. His inclusion will raise the Cabinet strength to 16, with two more positions still vacant.

The Congress government has faced criticism from various quarters, including minority groups, for not including a single Muslim minister since coming to power nearly two years ago. The elevation of Azharuddin is widely seen as a course correction to address this discontent.

During the ongoing by-election campaign, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has accused the Congress of “deceiving” the Muslim community and “betraying” Azharuddin by denying him a ticket in 2023. The Congress hopes his appointment will help counter this narrative.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has objected to the Cabinet expansion, urging the Election Commission to intervene. The BJP alleged that the move to induct Azharuddin was aimed at influencing voters in the bypoll and therefore violated the Model Code of Conduct.

The Telangana Cabinet was originally constituted on December 7, 2023, with the swearing-in of Revanth Reddy and 11 ministers. It was later expanded on June 8, 2025, when three new ministers were inducted. The Congress leadership, however, had kept three positions vacant, allowing room for political adjustments. The state Cabinet can have a maximum of 18 members, including the Chief Minister.

A former cricketing legend, Azharuddin captained the Indian team in 99 Tests and 334 One-Day Internationals. He entered politics soon after retiring from the sport and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Moradabad in 2009. In 2014, he contested from Tonk–Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan but lost.

In 2018, he was appointed Working President of the Telangana Congress and played an active role in the party’s campaign for the Assembly polls that year. His induction into the Cabinet marks a new phase in his political career.