[ad_1]
Newly elected Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy got down to work almost immediately after taking oath on Wednesday afternoon, approving the “six guarantees” the Congress had made in the run-up to the elections.
Revanth signed two files on his first day. While one pertained to the pre-poll guarantees, the other one was regarding employment for a differently abled woman, T K Rajini, to whom he had promised a job while campaigning in Achampet in Nagarkurnool district. Rajini will be allotted a job at a district collector’s office of her choosing.
Earlier in the day, even before the swearing-in ceremony began, the fence outside Pragathi Bhavan, which will now be renamed Jyotiba Phule Praja Bhavan, was removed. This too was a promise that Revanth had made during campaigning saying “prajala rajyam (people’s government)” will prevail in the state if the Congress is voted to power. Revanth will hold regular praja darbars here, the first of which is scheduled for Friday. However, Revanth has not indicated yet if he will move from his home in Hyderabad’s Jubilee Hills neighbourhood to the CM’s official residence.
After taking oath, the CM took to X to share his thoughts. “Congratulations to my fellow friends who have been appointed as ministers in the Telangana People’s Government. Let us dedicate ourselves to the aspirations of the immortals (martyrs), the aspirations of the people and the overall development of the state with collective efforts. Let’s keep the state at the top of the country in all fields,” he wrote in Telugu.
Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan with newly sworn-in CM A Revanth Reddy, Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and other ministers at the oath taking ceremony, at LB Satdium in Hyderabad. (PTI Photo)
The state’s first Dalit Deputy CM, Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu, was also sworn in along with Revanth and 11 other Cabinet ministers at the L B Stadium in the presence of leaders such as Congress Parliamentary Party leader Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, Karnataka CM Siddaramiah, and his deputy D K Shivakumar.
State Congress leaders believed to have been unhappy with Revath taking the top job, including Uttam Kumar Reddy, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, and veterans Ponnam Prabhakar, D Sridhar Babu and Damodar Rajan Narasimha, also found a place in the Cabinet that has two woman ministers in Konda Surekha and Naxal-turned-politician Dansari Anasuya, popularly known as “Seethakka”.
Caste composition
Besides the CM, there are three Reddys in the Cabinet in Uttam, Venkat Reddy, and Khammam strongman Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy. The OBC faces in the Cabinet are Prabhakar and Surekha while the ST community is represented by Anasuya. The Cabinet has one Brahmin, Kamma and Velama face each in Sridhar Babu, Nageswara Rao, and Krishna Rao respectively. Apart from Vikramarka, Speaker-designate Gaddam Prasad Kumar and Raja Narsimha are the other two Dalits.
The Congress’s strongholds of erstwhile Khammam and Nalgonda districts are adequately represented. While Nageswara Rao and Srinivasa Reddy are from Khammam, Uttam and Venkat Reddy come from Nalgonda.
Later in the day, the new CM held his first Cabinet meeting at the newly built Secretariat, where he discussed portfolios.
The immediate challenge that the first Congress government in Telangana is likely to face is the implementation of its six guarantees: Rs 2,500 to all women across the state; LPG cylinder at Rs 500 to eligible beneficiaries; free bus travel for women; Rs 15,000 per acre to every farmer annually, including Rs 12,000 to each tenant farmer and agricultural worker; government jobs; Rs 4,000 pension to eligible beneficiaries and Rs 10 lakh medical insurance for all people of the state.
The Congress has also promised Rs 5 lakh for the homeless poor under the Indiramma Housing scheme and a 250 square yard site for those who participated in the Telangana movement.
[ad_2]
