Telangana Cabinet Minister Azharuddin Congress: Former cricketer and MLC Mohammad Azharuddin is being appointed a minister in the Telangana government. He will be sworn in as a minister at Raj Bhavan on Friday, October 31.
Azhar to be the first Muslim minister in the Revanth government
Currently, the Congress government in Telangana lacks a single Muslim minister. This has led to accusations of the government's lack of representation for the Muslim community. Azharuddin's inclusion will address this shortcoming. With Azharuddin's inclusion, the Revanth Reddy cabinet will have a total of 16 ministers, up from the state's maximum of 18.
Jubilee Hills Assembly by-poll on Nov 11
The primary reason for this decision is the upcoming by-election for the Jubilee Hills Assembly seat on November 11th. This constituency has about 30% Muslim voters, so Congress hopes Azharuddin's entry will significantly benefit the party.
Muslim votes are decisive in Jubilee Hills
The Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency has about 3,90,000 voters, of which 1,20,000 to 1,40,000 are Muslims. This means that every third vote is from the Muslim community. This is why Muslim votes have a significant impact on the outcome. By appointing Azharuddin as a minister, Congress has attempted to strengthen its trust in the Muslim community.
No Muslim candidates in the by-election
This time, there are no Muslim candidates in the by-election. Manganti Sunita Gopinath is from BRS, while Vallala Naveen Yadav is contesting from Congress and Lankala Deepak Reddy is BJP's candidate.
Azharuddin lost to BRS candidate in 2023
Azharuddin contested the 2023 Assembly elections from Jubilee Hills as a Congress candidate, but lost to BRS candidate Maganti Gopinath by 16,337 votes. BRS received 80,549 votes, while Congress (Azharuddin) received 64,212 votes.
Prakash Kumar Pandey