New Telangana Ministers And Their Portfolios
Hyderabad: The swearing-in ceremony of new Telangana chief minister and council of ministers at the LB Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday was a grand affair.
Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundarrajan swore in twelve ministers. Here's a look at who gets what
Revanth Reddy: Chief Minister (Municipal Administration & Urban Development, General Administration, Law & Order and All other unallocated portfolios)
Bhatti Vikramarka: Deputy Chief Minister(Finance & Planning, Energy
C. Damodar Rajanarasimha: Health, Medical & Family Welfare, Science and Technology
Nalamada Uttam Kumar Reddy: Irrigation & CAD, Food & Civil Supplies
Komatireddy Venkat Reddy: Roads & Buildings, Cinematography
Duddilla Sridhar Babu: IT, Electronics & Communications Industries & Commerce Legislative Affairs
Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy: Revenue and Housing. Information & Public Relations
Ponnam Prabhakar: Transport and BC welfare
D Anasuya Seethakka: Panchayat Raj & Rural Development, Women and child welfare
Konda Surekha: Environment and Forests, Endowement
Jupally Krishna Rao: Excise, Tourism & Culture and Archaeology
Tummala Nageswara Rao: Agriculture, Marketing, Co-operation, and Handlooms & Textiles
Who gets what: Check out #Telangana ministers' portfolios. #TelanganaAssembly #RevanthReddy pic.twitter.com/F3juyjzVXH
— Deccan Chronicle (@DeccanChronicle) December 9, 2023
Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka
Deputy Chief Minister
A senior leader of the Congress, who had served as the deputy speaker in the undivided Andhra Pradesh and as CLP leader in Telangana. Bhatti, in the run up to the 2023 elections, undertook a punishing 1,400-km padayatra throughout the state in summer. This ostensibly has played a key role in the party’s success in the elections. Bhatti, who represents Madhira (SC), began his legislative career in 2007 as a member of the AP Legislative Council, and became a legislator for the first time in 2009, after which he won all the Assembly elections. Bhatti was also the government chief whip in the undivided AP and in 2019 became the leader of the opposition and the CLP head. Born on June 15, 1961, Bhatti, with a deep understanding of the functioning of the Legislature, and the government and with his penchant for doing his homework, is expected to play a key role in the weeks and months ahead as the new Congress government finds its feet and gets down to administration.
D. Sridhar Babu
Duddilla Sridhar Babu, born in 1969, introduced the AP Reorganisation Bill in the then Andhra Pradesh Assembly as legislative affairs minister, which paved the way for creation of Telangana. He won his first MLA election in 1999 and held various positions, including that of government whip and as a member of TTD before getting his first Cabinet berth as minister of higher education and NRI affairs in 2009. Subsequently, he served as minister for civil supplies, consumer affairs and legal meteorology, and legislative affairs. With his experience in the government and administration, Sridhar Babu was made chairman of the Congress party’s manifesto committee. This manifesto is believed to have contributed significantly to the party’s success in the 2023 elections. Son of former speaker, the late Duddilla Sripada Rao, Sridhar Babu holds a degree in law, and masters in political science from the University of Hyderabad. His wife is senior IAS officer, Shailaja Ramaiyer.
N. Uttam Kumar Reddy:
He is a former Indian Air Force officer who entered politics. Presently a Lok Sabha member from Nalgonda, he was Kodad MLA between 1999 and 2009 and represented Huzurnagar between 2009 and 2019. He has served as president of TPCC from February 2015 to June 2021. He served as minister of housing and weaker section housing programmes in the N. Kiran Kumar Reddy cabinet. After the Congress defeat in the 2020 GHMC elections, he resigned as the TPCC president. The party continued with him till he was replaced by incumbent state president Revanth Reddy in June 2021. He had famously vowed not to shave till the K. Chandrashekar Rao government was dethroned.
Dansari Anasuya (Seethakka):
Popularly known as Seethakka, she is a former naxalite. She surrendered before the police under the general amnesty plan in 1997 and later pursued studies and became a lawyer. In 2022, she completed her PhD in political science from Osmania University. Representing Mulugu Assembly constituency, she was elected in 2009 and followed up with wins in 2018 and 2023. Seethakka, who is also referred as ‘Iron Lady of Telangana’ was appointed general secretary of the All India Mahila Congress in June 2018 and in August 2019. The Congress high command also appointed her as state in-charge of Chhattisgarh Mahila Congress.
Komatireddy Venkat Reddy:
He resigned as minister in the N. Kiran Kumar Reddy Cabinet during the Telangana statehood movement. Congress Lok Sabha MP from Bhuvanagiri. He was one of the star campaigners of TPCC, and has been elected as MLA of Nalgonda constituency. He won from Nalgonda four times, in 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014. He was IT minister in the Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy's government and also has served as minister for ports. In 2019, he was elected as member of Parliament from Bhuvanagiri constituency.
Jupally Krishna Rao:
He was elected as an MLA from Kollapur and won elections five times but lost in the 2018. He started his career as a bank employee and gradually succeeded in the real estate business. He was elected MLA from Kollapur in Mahbubnagar in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2012 byelections and 2014. He quit the Congress and joined BRS in October 2011. He was earlier minister for food, civil supplies, legal metrology, consumer affairs in the Dr Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy Cabinet and endowment minister in the Kiran Kumar Reddy's cabinet.
Tummala Nageswara Rao
A five-time minister in the united Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments, Nageswara Rao was born on November 15, 1953, and is from Gollagudem village (Gandugula Palli) of Dammapeta Mandal in Khammam district. He joined the BRS in September 2014 and was inducted into the Cabinet three months later as R&B minister. He resigned from the BRS and joined the Congress recently.
Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy
Represented Khammam Lok Sabha constituency between 2014 and 2019 as a YSRC member. Later, he joined the BRS from which he was suspended earlier this year. He later joined the Congress. Reddy, one of the richest candidates, has been elected from Palair Assembly constituency with a huge majority. He is known to have refused an offer from the BJP.
Cilarapu Damodar Rajanarasimha
Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh between 2011 and 2014, Rajanarasimha represented the Andole constituency and held portfolios of higher education and agriculture. Following the death of his father, Narasimha gave up his dream of becoming a bureaucrat and entered politics. Narasimha began his political career in 1989 when he was elected as an MLA from Andole (SC) constituency
Ponnam Prabhakar
He served as Karimnagar MP in ndivided AP. Prabhakar started his political journey as a student activist. He has been known for his dynamic leadership qualities and work for the welfare of society right from his student days. Prabhakar served as NSUI state president from 1999 to 2002 and later, for a year, as state general secretary of the Youth Congress and a well-known activist for Telangana statehood. He is a working president of the TPCC.
Konda Surekha
She previously represented Shyampet and Parkal constituencies. Surekha began her career as mandal parishad in 1995. In 1996, Surekha was appointed PCC member and in 1999 elected MLA from Shayampet. In 2004, she served as the Congress spokesperson. In 2009 she was elected as Parkal MLA and was minister for women development and child welfare in the Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy Cabinet. She joined the Congress from the BRS in 2018.