Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao inducted ten more Ministers into his Cabinet today, bringing the total strength of the Council of Ministers to 12 including himself. Governor ESL Narasimhan administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new Ministers, at a simple ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan lawns.
This was the first Cabinet expansion after KCR took over as the Chief Minister of the State, along with Mohd Mehmood Ali, on December 12, following the Legislative Assembly elections, in which the TRS secured a massive mandate, for the second consecutive term. Chief Minister, Home Minister Mohd Memood Ali, Advisors to Government, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, Chief Secretary S K Joshi and other top officials were present on the occasion. The ceremony was completed in 22 minutes.
The first one to take oath was Allolla Indrakaran Reddy, followed by Thalasani Srinivas Yadav, G Jagdish Reddy, Etela Rajender, Singireddy Niranjan Reddy, Koppula Eshwar, Errabelli Dayakar Rao, V Srinivasa Goud, Vemula Prashanth Reddy, and Chamakura Mallareddy. There are six new faces in the Ministry. They are Vemula Prashanth Reddy, Koppula Eashwar, Errabelli Dayakar Rao, S Niranjan Reddy, V Srinivas Goud and Ch Malla Reddy. After the swearing-in, the new Ministers were greeted by the Governor and the Chief Minister.
While Etela Rajender was the Finance Minister in the previous team, Jagadish Reddy held Power portfolio, Indrakaran Reddy Housing, Law and Endowments, and Srinivas Yadav held Animal Husbandry portfolios. Among the new faces, Eashwar was Government whip, Niranjan Reddy was vice-chairman of the State Planning Board and Prashant Reddy vice chairman of Mission Bhagiratha, the prestigeous water-grid programme of the TRS government. The former Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivgas Reddy has been elected Speaker of the present Legislative Assembly. Former Minister T Padma Rao is likely to be elected Deputy Speaker of the Assembly.
While Home Minister Mehmood Ali is from the Legislative Council, all the other 11 Ministers including Chief Minister, are from the Assembly.
Next Expansion after LS Polls
All the ten Ministers took the oath in Telugu and in the name of God.
With the exception of old (united) Khammam and Medak districts, all the other Districts got representation in the Council of Ministers, with today’s expansion.
It may be mentioned that the Budget (Vote on Account) session of the Legislature is scheduled to begin on February 22.
After today’s expansion of ministry, there is scope for appointment of six more Ministers. The Chief Minister is likely to induct some more Ministers, probably six, after the Parliament elections.
[source_without_link]NSS[/source_without_link]