Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has appointed two Deputy Chief Ministers, one each from Muslim minority and Scheduled Caste.
While Mahmood Ali from old city of Hyderabad is a businessman and a member of legislative Council, T Rajaiah is an MBBS hailing from Warangal district.
KCR had promised during his election campaign the post of Deputy Chief Minister to these two sections. 61-year-old Ali has been given the key Revenue Ministry and is counted among the close confidants of KCR. He is the most well known Muslim face of the party and believed to have played a major role in mobilising minority support for the party in the elections. He is the first Muslim to become Deputy Chief Ministers in Andhra Pradesh history.
Rajaiah, who is Minister for Health and Medical Education, represents Station Ghanpur constituency in Warangal. Earlier, he was in the Congress but joined the TRS in 2012.
Ali comes from a middle class family of Hyderabad and his family runs a dairy company. 44-year-old Rajaiah on the other hand comes from a poor family which came up in life through education. Interestingly, his family today has as many as five doctors including his two sons and two daughters-in-law.
Observers believe that by appointing Rajaiah as the deputy Chief Minister, KCR has countered the criticism of opponents that he had gone back on his promise of making a Dalit the first Chief Minister of the State. However, non inclusion of any woman in his first Cabinet has become a subject of criticism leading to speculations that KCR will be expanding his Cabinet soon to make it more representative.
KCR, who assumed office on Monday, had a hectic schedule with meeting senior officials and his team of advisers discussing urgent issues and the division of work among Ministers and various departments.
Six advisers appointed by KCR include four former IAS officers BV Papa Rao, AK Goel, Ramana Chary, Rama lakshman, ex-Indian Economic Service officer GR Reddy and former Engineer in chief R Vidyasagar Rao, an expert on irrigation projects. Appointing these advisers was the first major decision KCR took.
On Tuesday KCR also held a meeting with the officials of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to discuss the proposed Information Technology Investment Corridor in the suburb of Hyderabad involving a massive investment.