Mohammad Azharuddin To Be Sworn In As Minister In Telangana On Friday

Former Indian cricket captain and senior Congress leader Mohammad Azharuddin is set to be sworn in as a minister in the Telangana cabinet on Friday. The induction is generating significant political controversy as it comes just days ahead of the crucial Jubilee Hills assembly bypoll on November 11.

The move will fill a long-standing vacancy and provide the Congress government with its first Muslim representation in the cabinet. However, opponents quickly framed the appointment as an electoral calculation aimed at the Jubilee Hills constituency, which has an estimated 30 per cent Muslim electorate.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has strongly objected to the timing, writing to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and alleging a violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

Party spokespersons argued that inducting a minister into the cabinet, especially one who had recently sought a ticket from the same constituency, constitutes a misuse of official power to influence voters during an active election cycle.

The ruling Congress party robustly defended the decision as the fulfilment of a commitment to social justice. Telangana Congress chief Mahesh Goud told NDTV, "The Congress party had made a commitment to ensure cabinet representation for minorities. Governments, even in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, always included a minority face. We are simply correcting a long-overdue imbalance."

Goud also mocked the BJP, saying the party had made its party election candidate a minister in Rajasthan even though he was eventually defeated by the Congress candidate.

Minister In-charge for Jubilee Hills, G Vivek, dismissed the opposition's political calculations. "The induction of Azharuddin is absolutely not with an eye on the Jubilee Hills bypoll. We are far ahead in the race and will win comfortably. We are just fulfilling what we intended to do for a long while," Vivek told NDTV.

Azharuddin is expected to be sworn in as a minister even without having been formally inducted into the legislative council. The Telangana cabinet previously nominated Azharuddin and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) chief M Kodandaram to two MLC seats under the Governor's quota.

However, Governor Jishnu Dev Varma has not yet signed off on their nominations. This delay stems from an ongoing legal dispute at the Supreme Court concerning the previous nominations for these two vacancies. The court has stated that any fresh appointments to the governor's quota seats would be subject to the final outcome of the pending case. Azharuddin must be inducted as an MLC within six months of his swearing-in to retain the ministerial post.

The move has drawn complex reactions across the political spectrum. The opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which held the Jubilee Hills seat before the passing of Maganti Gopinath, has intensified its attack, accusing the Congress of "betraying" the community for two years and making a desperate, last-minute political gamble.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is watching the development closely. Political observers suggest the sudden elevation could create friction between the AIMIM and Congress, which are often considered friendly partners in key constituencies. The AIMIM is supporting the Congress candidate in this bypoll.

In 2023, the AIMIM had put up a Muslim candidate in Jubilee Hills, an election in which Azharuddin was the Congress candidate and lost by 16,000 votes. The split in minority vote contributed to the BRS victory.

Sources within the Congress party noted that while the induction satisfies the political objective of minority representation, some senior Muslim leaders who have worked for the party felt overlooked, describing the move as a high-risk gamble to secure a single bypoll.

There were also reports of Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy being unhappy over being overlooked for induction into the cabinet but he has denied that.