On Sunday, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy administered the oath of office to three new ministers-G Vivek Venkat Swamy (Chennur, SC-Mala), Adluri Laxman Kumar (Dharmapuri, SC-Madeiga) and Vakti Srihari (Maqthal, BC-Muduraj) at a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad. Governor Jishnu Dev Verma administered the oath of office and secrecy to him at a function held at Raj Bhavan. Chief Minister A Revant Reddy, his Council of Ministers, MLAs and other leaders were present on the occasion.
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This is the first cabinet expansion since the Congress government -led Congress government came to power in December 2023, with the number of ministers to 12, while six posts are vacant. The three appointments traditionally represent less represented communities: Vivek and Laxman are from SC groups, and Srihari are from backward class background. Analysts suggest that they have been included to balance regional and caste diversity before future appointments.
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CM Revanth Reddy congratulated those involved through a post on X (East Twitter), and congratulated Dornakal MLA Ramchander Naik on becoming the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly. Although departments are yet to be announced for three new ministers, further expansion is expected in the coming days. The Congress high command is allegedly considering additional inclusion, which may potentially involve leaders of Muslim, GHMC and Reddy/Wellma communities.
