Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Saturday distributed portfolios to his council of ministers and kept the key departments of law and order, municipal administration and urban development with himself.
The general administration department, which is in charge of transfer and posting of bureaucrats, will also be with the chief minister.
Reddy entrusted his deputy Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu with the key departments of finance, planning and energy.
Senior minister N Uttam Kumar got the department of irrigation and CAD (Command Area Development), food and civil supplies. While C Damodar Rajanarasimha was given the health portfolio along with science and technology, another heavyweight leader Komatireddy Venkat Reddy got roads and buildings along with cinematography departments.
D Sridhar Reddy was put in charge of the high profile IT, electronics and communication, industries and commerce and legislative affairs. It will be a challenging position since his predecessor K T Rama Rao had been perceived as a dynamic industries and IT minister, bringing in investments.
Another minister from Khammam, P Srinivas Reddy got the departments of revenue and housing as well as information and public relations. While Ponnam Prabhakar got transport and BC Welfare, Konda Surekha was made in charge of endowment, Environment and forest.
Naxalite-turned-MLA D Anasuya Seethakka got panchayati raj and rural development. Tummala Nageswara Rao was given charge of agriculture, marketing, handloom and textiles, while Jupally Krishna Rao will look after prohibition and excise.
All remaining portfolios which have not been allocated will remain with the chief minister.
Congress spokesperson Sama Ram Mohan Reddy said, “Since there was no minority MLA in the current assembly, there is no minority minister. But a couple of MLC seats have fallen vacant after the incumbent got elected as MLA. It is likely that minority candidates will be included in the state Cabinet after getting elected to the Legislative Council.”
Meanwhile, BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao will be the Leader of the Opposition in the new assembly after the BRS legislature party chose him to be its leader. Former Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy proposed his name and was supported by party MLAs Talasani Srinivas Reddy and Kadiyam Srihari.
KCR, who underwent a hip replacement surgery on Friday, will take oath at a later date. BRS working president K T Rama Rao was unable to take oath on Saturday since he was attending to his father.
Earlier in the day, Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan administered the oath to Protem Speaker Akbaruddin Owaisi at Raj Bhavan in the presence of chief minister Reddy and former Speaker Pocharam Srinivas. Owaisi then administered the oath to rest of the MLAs, including the chief minister.