Telangana's first CM

After years as the principal agitator for Telangana that included a 11-day hunger fast in 2009, K Chandrasekhar Rao (60) was sworn in as the first chief minister of the country's 29th state by governor ESL Narasimhan generating festivities and cheer among the people of the state bifurcated from Andhra Pradesh.
A 12-member TRS cabinet headed by Rao, including two deputy chief ministers, was given the oath of office by the governor on Monday . KCR, as Rao is known, paid tributes to the martyrs of Telangana before his swearing-in. Mohammed Mahmood Ali and T Rajaiah are the two deputy CMs whereas KCR's son, K Taraka Rama Rao, was made the high-profile minister for information technology . KCR's nephew, T Harish Rao, will handle irrigation and legislative affairs. The decision was taken Sunday night after hectic lobbying by the aspirants.
KCR's cabinet has 12 ministers. In the run-up to the elections, KCR had promised the CM's post to a Dalit.
But, he changed his mind and later suggested he was in the reckoning for CM's post while also promising to appoint two deputy CMs, one Dalit and one Muslim. Mahmood Ali, an MLC from Malakpet in Old City, is the lone TRS Muslim representative in the legislature while Rajaiah from the Madiga community is a physician from Warangal.
The TSR chief opted to retain key portfolios with himself. They include industry , municipal administration and urban development, a department that would be vital in promoting and preserving the brand image of Hyderabad. Other portfolios with him are power and SC, SC, BC and minorities welfare.
With several TRS MLAs unhappy at not getting a cabinet berth, party sources said a cabinet expansion was likely by June-end. At the informal cabinet meeting in the afternoon, the Telangana logo was approved and it was decided that the first assembly session will be convened on June 9.
Among KCR's first decision was appointment of six retired officials as advisers to the government. They are AK Goel, A Ramlakshman, KV Ramanachary , BV Papa Rao, R Vidyasagar Rao and G R Reddy. Meanwhile, even as KCR did not invite AP CM-elect Chandrababu Naidu to his swearing-in ceremony , the latter on Monday telephoned the Telangana CM and invited him for his swearing-in on June 8. TRS sources said an embarrassed KCR is still to decide whether he should go for the event.