Telangana cabinet expands with three Congress MLAs taking oath

The Congress government in Telangana expanded the cabinet headed by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy by inducting three MLAs, including G Vivek Venkata Swamy, Adluri Laxman Kumar and Vakiti Srihari on Sunday.

The three MLAs were sworn in at the Raj Bhavan and the chief minister congratulated the incoming ministers.

In a post on X, Reddy also congratulated party legislator Ramchander Naik on becoming the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.



The induction puts an end to weeks of speculation over the expansion, which followed consultations with the AICC leadership in Delhi.

This marks the first cabinet expansion since the Revanth Reddy government assumed office in December, 2023. With the induction of three new ministers, the strength of the Telangana cabinet rises to 12, including the Chief Minister.

Against the full sanctioned strength of 18, six positions still remain vacant, leaving room for further expansion. Following Sunday’s swearing-in, three cabinet berths will continue to remain unfilled.

Revanth Reddy and state Congress president B Mahesh Kumar Goud have held confabulations with the AICC leadership in Delhi on the induction of new ministers and appointment of office bearers of state Congress unit.

The expansion is also inclusive as Vivek and Laxman Kumar belong to SC (Mala) and SC (Madiga) communities respectively, while Srihari is a leader who hails from the backward class. Ramchander Naik represents the ST community.

The appointment of state Congress office bearers, including the working president and others, has been pending since Goud took over as Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president in September, 2024.