KCR sworn in; heads cabinet of 11 ministers

Telangana Governor E S L Narasimhan greets K. Chandrasekhara Rao, after he was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Telangana, in Hyderabad on Monday.

"Best wishes to people for the state's development journey", greets Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) supremo and chief architect of the separate Telangana agitation, Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhara Rao was on Monday sworn in as the first Chief Minister of the newly created State of Telangana on Monday.

Clad in a white shirt and trousers, Mr Rao took oath in Telugu and later 11 cabinet ministers were sworn. His son K. Tarakarama Rao (Sircilla constituency) and nephew T. Harish Rao (Siddipet) were accommodated in the cabinet. The other cabinet ministers who were sworn in were: Mohammed Mahmood Ali, Dr. Rajaiah, N. Narsimha Reddy, P. Srinivas Reddy, Eatela Rajendar, T. Padma Rao, P. Mahendar Reddy, Jogu Ramanna and Jagadish Reddy.

Koppula Eashwar, tipped to be in the Cabinet did not make it and is now believed to be in consideration for the post of Assembly speaker. Interesting, no woman MLA was included in the cabinet.

Mr. Rao drove to Gun Park near Assembly to pay homage to the martyrs’ of Telangana and then reached the Raj Bhavan to be sworn in.

Earlier, the Governor ESL Narasimhan was administered oath as he had to hold additional charge of newly created 29th state of India.

Earlier, Mr Anurag Sharma took over as the DG of Telangana police.

PTI adds:

To facilitate the swearing in of the new Government in Telangana, the President’s Rule imposed in united Andhra Pradesh, was revoked partially on Monday.

However, the central rule will continue in the residual Andhra Pradesh till TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu takes charge as Chief Minister a week later.

A notification has been issued early today revoking President’s Rule in Telangana to facilitate Rao in taking charge as the first Chief Minister of the country’s 29th state, a Home Ministry official said.

President’s rule was imposed in Andhra Pradesh on March 1 after N Kiran Kumar Reddy resigned as Chief Minister following Parliament’s nod for bifurcation of the state to create separate Telangana.

Mr. Rao’s party Telangana Rashtra Samiti won 63 of the 119 assembly seats in Telangana in the recent elections while Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party, along with ally BJP, bagged 106 of the 175 assembly seats in Seemandhra.

Earlier, the TRS chief paid tributes at the Telangana Martyrs'Memorial at Gun Park before proceeding to Raj Bhavan on Monday to take oath.

Complete support: Modi

Soon after the swearing in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Mr. Rao.

"Congrats to K Chandrasekhar Rao Garu on taking oath as Telangana's 1st CM. My best wishes to people for the state's development journey. The Centre assures complete support to the people & Government of Telangana in taking the state to newer heights of progress", Mr. Modi tweeted.