Chief Minister-designate A. Revanth Reddy is not expected to form a complete Cabinet on Thursday following his oath-taking ceremony as Chief Minister at LB Stadium, according to party sources.
Reports indicate that eight or nine ministers are likely to take the oath on Thursday. Although the upper limit of the Telangana cabinet is 18, including the Chief Minister, it appears that only eight or nine ministers will participate in the ceremony.
While the Congress leadership has kept the Cabinet's composition under wraps, sources suggest that Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka will be sworn in on Thursday and appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister.
Other senior leaders expected to take the oath on Thursday include N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, D. Sridhar Babu, Ponnam Prabhakar, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, G. Vinod, and Seethakka (Dansari Anasuya).
It is reported that Revanth Reddy plans to expand the cabinet after the election of the Speaker. The Legislative Assembly session will be convened shortly to allow elected MLAs to take the oath and elect the speaker.
Revanth Reddy is reportedly considering Tummala Nageshwara Rao for the position of Speaker.
On Thursday, Revanth Reddy engaged in day-long discussions with the party high command in Delhi, meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC general secretary (organisation) K.C.Venugopal. Discussions on Cabinet formation took place with K.C. Venugopal and AICC Telangana affairs in-charge Manikrao Thakare.
Revanth Reddy, who arrived in Hyderabad on a special flight Thursday evening, went directly to his residence in Jubilee Hills and did not provide clear information to party leaders on how many ministers would take the oath with him on Thursday.
It is expected that Revanth Reddy will reveal the list of Cabinet ministers on Thursday morning, just hours before the swearing-in ceremony.
