Hyderabad, Aug 31 : Congress leader and former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin may be inducted in the Telangana Cabinet following the decision to nominate him as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) under the Governor's quota.

The Cabinet's decision came as a surprise, as only a few weeks ago, Azharuddin had declared himself as the Congress candidate for the upcoming by-election to the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency.

After the defeat in the 2023 elections from his home constituency, he was keen to re-enter the fray as the seat fell vacant following the death of sitting MLA Maganti Gopinath of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

Azharuddin's reaction to the Cabinet decision indicates that the party leadership had already persuaded him to accept the nomination as MLC. "Deeply honored and humbled by the Cabinet's decision to nominate me for the MLC post under the Governor's quota in Telangana," the former cricketer posted on X on Sunday. He thanked the Congress leadership and assured that he 'remains committed to serving the State with integrity and dedication'.

Congress leaders say Azharuddin's nomination as MLC will pave the way for his induction into the State Cabinet. This will meet the long-pending demand for Muslim representation in the Cabinet.

The Congress had come under flak from various Muslim community groups for not giving representation in the Cabinet even 20 months after coming to power. Some Muslim groups had termed this as betrayal by the Congress after garnering support from Muslims in the elections.

Azharuddin, the Working President of Telangana Congress unit and who was recently named a member of the Political Affairs Committee of the state unit, was one of the three Muslim candidates fielded by Congress in the 2023 Assembly polls. None of them could be elected.

Azharuddin had lost to Gopinath in Jubilee Hills by a margin of 16,337 votes. In a multi-cornered contest, Gopinath secured 80,549 votes while Azharuddin polled 64,212 votes. BJP's L. Deepak Reddy came third with 25,866 votes.

Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which was a friendly party of then ruling BRS, had entered the fray to queer the pitch for Azharuddin. AIMIM candidate Rashed Farazuddin had finished a distant fourth with 7,848 votes.

Former minister and senior leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir, who lost the 2023 election from Nizamabad Urban constituency, was likely to be nominated as MLC and made a minister to ensure Muslim representation. However, he was appointed as advisor to the state government on BCs, SCs, STs and minorities.

Names of various Muslim leaders of the Congress have been doing the rounds as the possible choice for MLC and minister.

However, the Congress sprang a surprise in January 2024 by deciding to nominate Amer Ali Khan, news editor of the Urdu daily 'Siasat', to the upper house of the state legislature along with M. Kodandaram, a former professor of political science at Osmania University and the President of Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS). Amer Ali Khan's nomination was also seen as a thanksgiving gesture by the Congress for the newspaper's support during the elections.

However, they could not take the oath as the High Court set aside their appointment on the petitions by BRS leaders Dasoju Sravan and Kurra Satyanarayana, whose nomination as MLCs was recommended by the previous government of BRS in July 2023, but the same was rejected by then Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on the grounds that the two were "politically aligned persons".

The High Court had subsequently quashed the Governor's decision to reject the nominations of Dasoju Sravan and Satyanarayana.

Following the High Court order, the BRS leaders had requested the Governor to nominate them as MLCs. However, as the BRS had lost power to Congress, the Governor rejected the request.

Sravan and Satyanarayana had challenged the Governor's refusal in the Supreme Court. On August 14, 2024, the Supreme Court declined to pass any orders but made it clear that if the state and the Governor proceed further with appointing Congress nominees in the two vacant slots, such appointments would be subject to the final outcome of the pleas.

A few days later, the Cabinet again recommended Kodandaram and Khan as MLCs. Governor Jishnu Dev Varma accepted the recommendation. They took the oath as MLCs.

However, on August 13, the Supreme Court stayed their appointment after Sravan and Satyanarayana challenged it on the grounds that it violates the interim order of the apex court.

The Supreme Court order also came as an opportunity for the ruling party to replace Amer Ali Khan with Azharuddin. It, however, decided to retain Kodandaram.

Azharuddin was elected to the Lok Sabha from Moradabad constituency in Uttar Pradesh in 2009, a few months after he joined the Congress. The Congress had fielded him from Rajasthan's Ton-Sawai Madhopur in 2014, but he lost the election.

In 2018, he was appointed as the Working President of the state Congress. He had campaigned for the party in the 2018 Assembly elections, but the party did not field him in either the Assembly or Lok Sabha polls.

A Cabinet expansion is likely in the next few months to fill three vacancies.

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and 11 ministers were sworn in on December 7, 2023. After a long delay, the Cabinet was expanded on June 8 this year with the induction of three ministers. However, the Muslim community was once again ignored.

As the party leadership kept three posts vacant, one of them is likely to be filled with Azharuddin's induction after his appointment as MLC.

The state Cabinet can have a maximum of 18 ministers, including the Chief Minister.

/IANS