HYDERABAD: Former Indian cricket captain and the Congress government’s MLC nominee, Md Azharuddin, is likely to be inducted into the state Cabinet led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, in a move seen as politically significant ahead of the Jubilee Hills byelection.
Party insiders believe that bringing the former cricketer into the Cabinet would not only strengthen the Congress’s appeal among minorities in Jubilee Hills, where Muslims constitute around 33% of the electorate, but also project a positive image at the national level, especially in the context of elections in Bihar and other states.
On August 30, the state Cabinet had recommended the nomination of Azharuddin and Prof M Kodandaram to the Legislative Council under the Governor’s quota. However, approval from Governor Jishnu Dev Varma is still pending.
Captain Azhar set to pad up again, this time as a minister
Sources in the ruling party indicated that the oath-taking ceremony to induct Azharuddin could take place on Friday at Raj Bhavan, though there has been no formal confirmation either from the Chief Minister’s Office or the Raj Bhavan.
At present, there are three vacant positions in the state Cabinet. The Congress government plans to fill only one position now.
Azharuddin tested his luck in the 2023 Assembly elections from the Jubilee Hills segment, and ended up in the second position.
For the November 11 byelection, the Congress chose to field Naveen Yadav. The party-led government had earlier nominated Azharuddin to the Legislative Council, and now plans to induct him into the state Cabinet.
According to senior party sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the proposal to induct Azharuddin was discussed during the recent one-on-one meetings between AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, the chief minister, TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka.
Party sources said that they were unable to nominate a Muslim candidate in the state Cabinet as no candidate from the community was elected to the Assembly in the 2023 elections.
“Mohammed Amer Ali Khan was initially nominated to the Legislative Council, but it was struck down by the Supreme Court,” a Congress leader said. He added that Amer Ali Khan will be accommodated appropriately.
Incidentally, Azharuddin accompanied Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy when Islamic scholars and intelligentsia met him on Wednesday. During the meeting, the representatives of the Muslim community raised their issues with Revanth.
Later, the CMO issued a press release stating that Muslim associations have extended support to the ruling Congress in the upcoming Jubilee Hills byelection.
