Commenting on Azhar’s portfolios, BRS accuses Telangana CM Revanth of tokenism

The Opposition BRS has accused Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of tokenism after newly-inducted minister Mohammad Azharuddin was allocated the Public Enterprises and Minority Affairs portfolios.

Reddy retained the Sports Department even though Azharuddin was tipped to get it due to his cricket background. Although the cricketer was sworn in as minister on 31 October, his portfolios were announced on Tuesday.

Advertisement

The BRS launched a diatribe against the chief minister, alleging that he harboured “deep-seated resentment” against the minorities and accused him of disrespecting a cricketing icon. BRS leader Dasoju Sravan Kumar said, “It is appalling to note that a distinguished Indian cricket captain who brought unmatched glory to the nation has been denied key portfolios, not even entrusted with the sports ministry, the very field that made him an international icon.”

The BRS leader then accused the chief minister of inducting Azharuddin only to woo the minority voters before the bypoll in the Jubilee Hills constituency. The constituency has more than a lakh of minority voters and both the Congress and BRS are vying for it. Sravan further said, “The Congress government led by Revanth Reddy took two long years to appoint even a single minority minister and when it finally did, it turned out to be pure tokenism, with no meaningful responsibility like deputy chief minister, home, education or sports. This looks less like representation and more like a reluctant appointment driven purely by the fear of defeat in the Jubilee Hills byelection.”

Revanth Reddy is quite keen about sports. An avid footballer, he has several plans to popularise sports in Telangana. He has come up with a sports policy and has inducted sportsmen like Olympian Abhinav Bindra and Kapil Dev in order to boost sports in the state. He is therefore unlikely to part with the sports portfolio.

The BRS, on the other hand, pointed out that when it was in power, it had appointed a minority leader as the deputy chief minister, who had handled the home department. However, detractors point out that the erstwhile home minister, Mohammad Mahmood Ali, was the home minister only by name and the real power was vested with former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.