Azharuddin's Political Comeback: From Cricket Captain to Cabinet Minister

Governor Jishnu Dev Varma will administer oath to Azharuddin at 12.15 p.m. at Raj Bhavan.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and other ministers will attend the ceremony, officials confirmed on Thursday.

The State Cabinet in August decided to nominate Azharuddin as Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) under Governor's quota.

Azharuddin is likely to be allotted the portfolio of minority welfare.

A former MP, Azharuddin is currently the working president of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) and a member of Political Affairs Committee of the TPCC.

The 62-year-old is being included in the Cabinet ahead of November 11 by-election to Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency.

The former cricketer, who had unsuccessfully contested from his home constituency in 2023, was keen to contest again but the Congress leadership decided to field Naveen Yadav and promised Cabinet berth to Azharuddin.

Azharuddin's swearing-in will take the strength of the State Cabinet to 16. He will be the first Muslim minister in CM Revanth Reddy's Cainet.

The ruling party has been at the receiving end from various sections of the community for not having a single Muslim minister ever since it came to power nearly two years ago.

All key Muslim candidates of the Congress party including Azharuddin had suffered defeat in 2023 Assembly elections.

Azharuddin's elevation as a minister is seen as the Congress party's move to reach out to Muslims, who constitute about 30 per cent of the electorate in Jubilee Hills.

During the ongoing election campaign, the BRS has been targeting Congress party for what it called 'deceiving' Muslim community and also 'betraying' Azharuddin.

Interestingly, BJP has urged the Election Commission not to allow Cabinet expansion as Azharuddin is being made a minister to appease a section of voters in the by-election. The party has termed this as violation of Model Code of Conduct.

The Cabinet was formed on December 7, 2023 with the swearing-in of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and 11 ministers.

After a long delay, the Cabinet was expanded on June 8, 2025 with the induction of three ministers. The Congress leadership, however, kept three posts vacant.

The State Cabinet can have a maximum of 18 ministers including the Chief Minister.

Azharuddin was elected to the Lok Sabha from Moradabad constituency in Uttar Pradesh in 2009, a few months after he joined the Congress party. The Congress had fielded him from Rajasthan's Ton-Sawai Madhopur in 2014, but he lost the election.

In 2018, he was appointed as the Working President of the Telangana Congress. He had campaigned for the party in the 2018 Assembly elections, but the party did not field him in either the Assembly or Lok Sabha polls.

- IANS