Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, who had relentlessly led the statehood movement for his region for 14-long years, was on Monday sworn in as the first chief minister of newly-carved state of Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh by Governor ESL Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan here.
Eleven others, including his son KT Rama Rao (Siricilla) and nephew T Harish Rao (Siddipet), were also sworn in as Cabinet ministers by Narasimhan, who administered them oath of office and secrecy exactly at 8.20 a.m., the auspicious time fixed by priests even as State capital Hyderabad wore a pink look with the colour of TRS flags, Rao's cut-outs, banners, festoons and balloons.
Nine other Cabinet ministers who took oath of office are- Mohammed Mahmood Ali (MLC), Tadikonda Rajaiah (Station Ghanpur), Nayani Narasimha Reddy,Eatela Rajender (Huzurabad), Pocharam Srinivas Reddy (Banswada), T Padma Rao (Secunderabad), Patnam Mahender Reddy (Tandur), Jogu Ramanna (Adilabad) and Guntakandla Jagadish Reddy (Suryapet).
Of these 11 ministers, Nayani Narasimha Reddy is neither an MLA nor an MLC. Hence, he needs to be elected to either of the Houses within six months. The TRS chief seems to have picked Reddy as the member of his Cabinet as the veteran politico has been seen as a trusted lieutenant for him since party's inception.
Rajender had served as the party's floor leader in the previous Assembly of united AP whereas Pocharam Srinivas Reddy had served as the minister in the then TDP government led by N Chandrababu Naidu. Of the 11 ministers, Jagadish Reddy is the only first-time MLA.
While composing his Cabinet, the first Chief Minister of the T-State Rao seems to have given priority for 'social justice'. For instance, of the 11 ministers, one is from minority sections of society (Mohamood Ali), another is from SCs (T Rajaiah) and three are from BCs (Etela, Padma Rao and Ramanna). Rao also gave significant representation to influential Reddy community in the region by allotting them four ministerial berths.
However, there is no representation for STs and women in the present Cabinet. Of the 10 districts in the new State, there is no presence of party lawmakers in the Cabinet from Mahbubnagar and Khammam districts.
TRS sources say Rao will give due representation to these sections of MLAs and leftover districts at the time of expansion of his council of ministers which is likely to take place by the end of this month.
Interestingly, Rao's decision to include Mahender Reddy and Jogu Ramanna, who had joined the TRS at eleventh hour from the TDP, appears to have invited the wrath of some of his legislators. An MLC, who had failed to get a berth in the Cabinet, expressed his displeasure before reporters soon after the swearing-in ceremony over this matter.
Before taking oath as the chief minister, Rao paid tributes to martyrs of Telangana at Gun Park, located in front of the Assembly building here.
Narasimhan to Don Dual Role:
Earlier in the day, Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan took oath as the governor of Telangana. Before that a notification was issued revoking President's rule in the new State to facilitate Rao in taking charge as the first chief minister of the State. The President's rule would, however, continue in the residual AP until TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu takes charge as chief minister of Seemandhra on June 8.
Chandrababu Naidu Skips Swearing-in
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's Seemandhra counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu chose to skip the swearing-in of Rao, which had taken place on Monday. While Congress, BJP, CPI, CPM, YSRC and MIM representatives attended the oath-taking of Rao at Raj Bhavan, TDP leaders opted to give a miss to the ceremony. According to sources, as Rao had not personally invited either Naidu or his party leaders for his swearing-in, the yellow party lawmakers chose to skip the momentous occasion in the history of the new State. Though all the heavyweights of the T-Congress including TPCC chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah and former PCC boss D Srinivas were conspicuous by their absence at the function, leaders like Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy and K Yadav Reddy turned up. Former Speaker Nadendla Manohar also attended the ceremony. Along with some of his party MLAs, MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also made his presence. BJP Telangana unit chief G Kishan Reddy, CPI State secretary Chada Venkat Reddy, CPM State secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram and YSRC MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy also took part. Telangana Political Joint Action Committee (TJAC) chairman Porf M Kodandaram was too present.
'Jai Telangana' Slogans Reverberate Raj Bhavan
Raj Bhavan was reverberated with the slogans of 'Jai Telangana' on Monday when the TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao took oath as the first chief minister of newly formed T-State. Apart from the kith and kin of Rao, several other well-wishers along with party lawmakers thronged Raj Bhavan on Monday morning to have a glimpse of Rao's swearing-in ceremony as the first chief minister of Telangana, an epoch-making movement in the history of the new State.