KCR takes oath as T’gana CM for 2nd time, cabinet expansion soon
HYDERABAD: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao was sworn in as the chief minister of India’s youngest state amid the chanting of vedic hymns at 1:25 p.m. on Thursday — a time chosen by priests as propitious for his second successive term in power.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governor ESL Narasimhan administered the oaths of office and secrecy to Rao, popularly known as KCR, at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan, which lasted five minutes. Senior TRS leader Mohammad Mahmood Ali was sworn in as a cabinet minister. He was a deputy chief minister in the previous term and is expected to retain the position this time, too.
The swearing-in ceremony took place two days after TRS won a landslide victory in the December 7 elections to the 119member assembly, fending off a united challenge posed by the Maha Kootami — an alliance of the Congress, Telugu Desam Party, Communist Party of India and the Telangana Jana Samithi.
KCR took his oath in Telugu and Ali in Urdu. The ceremony was attended by newly-elected MLAS, senior party leaders, family members of the chief minister, and All India Majlis-eIttehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to congratulate KCR for taking oath as Telangana chief minister for a second consecutive term.
“Congratulations to KCR Garu on taking oath as the CM of Telangana. Best wishes for his tenure ahead,” the PM said.
The chief minister known for his belief in rituals, consulted priests at the Lakshminarasimha Swamy temple in Yadadri, in Bhongir district near Hyderabad, to choose the auspicious time for his swearing-in ceremony.
Born in 1954 to a family of farmers at Chintamadaka village in Siddipet district, KCR began his political career as a Youth Congress worker in the early 1980s
Joined Telugu Desam Party (TDP), founded by N T Rama Rao, in 1982 and unsuccessfully contested from Siddipet in 1983. Won mid-terms in 1985 from Siddipet. Re-elected until 2004
In 2001, KCR launched Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) to revive the movement for a separate Telangana state
Explaining the significance of the timing, head priest Lakshmi Narasimhacharya said, “The auspicious period will give KCR raja yoga. During this period, all the planets are in a top position and they will bring him good luck in whatever he does.”
According to TRS functionaries, the expansion of the cabi-
In 2004, KCR allied with Congress, became an MP from Karimnagar and Union minister for labour and employment
In 2006, he quit to intensify the Telangana agitation. In 2009 general elections, TRS allied with the TDP but failed to beat the Congress
In November '09, KCR undertook a fast-unto-death, which compelled the Centre to announce that the statehood process for Telangana would begin soon. Telangana was formed on 1 June
2014.
Sitarama
Filling government jobs that have been vacant for the last four years
Providing 12% reservation to Muslim minorities and Scheduled Tribes
Building a Federal Front of non-bharatiya Janata Party, non-congress regional parties
net is likely to take place on December 18.
Earlier, at the TRS legislature party meeting held on Wednesday, KCR said the cabinet will accommodate legislators from all sections, including scheduled castes and tribes, other backward classes and minorities.