Ministers stumble at swearing in
Dec. 1: A major chunk of ministers who were sworn in on Wednesday could not properly read the oath of office and secrecy despite it being in their mother tongue Telugu. Most of the ministers fumbled and stumbled over the words sarvabhoumadhikaram (sovereignty) and antahkarana (conscience) evoking laughter in the audience.
Mr K. Venkata Krishna Reddy, Mr M. Mukesh, Mr P. Satyanarayana, Mr A. Sudarshan Reddy, Mr V. Vasanth Kumar, Mr P. Viswarup, Mr K. Venkata Reddy, Mr K. Krishna Reddy, Mr B. Saraiah, Mr M. Venkata Ramana Rao and Mr R. Venkata Reddy were among those who ‘tripped’ over “sarvabhoumadhikaram. Mr Pratap Reddy pronounced it sara bhouma while Mr Nagender said raga desalu and Mr Mukesh did not utter several words properly.
The audience burst into laughter when Mr E. Pratap Reddy and Mr A. Sudarshan Reddy took oaths as Chief Minister instead of minister. The governor, Mr E.S.L. Narasimhan, and the Chief Minister, Mr N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, also smiled at the faux pas.
However, the first-time ministers, Mr M. Maheedhar Reddy, Mr Thota Narasimham and Mr S. Sailajanath, took their oath very fluently as did the seniors Mr A. Ramanarayana Reddy, Mr D. Prasada Rao, Mr K. Lakshminarayana, Mr N. Raghuveera Reddy and Dr Geeta Reddy. Ms D.K. Aruna arrived late since she had to rush in from the marriage function of her daughter.
The former chief minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, attended the ceremony and was flanked by the ministers, Ms P. Sabita Indra Reddy and Dr J. Geeta Reddy. He was engrossed in conversation with them.
Mr K. Jana Reddy was heard complaining to the additional secretary, Mr Basant Kumar, that he found it difficult to sign the register after taking oath since the ink in the pen had dried up.
Except in case of Mr Vivekananda Reddy, Mr Mukesh, Mr Nagender, Mr Narasimham and Mr Parthasarathi there was no cheering and clapping for other ministers when they took oath. All the senior leaders also clapped when Mr Vivekananda took oath as the 39th minister.
The minister, Mr Sridhar Babu, was busy calming down his baby who cried whenever he moved away. Only three ministers — Dr Sankar Rao, Mr Parthasarathi and Mr Damodar Rajanarasimha — took oath in English.
As many as 33 ministers took their oath in the name of God while Mr Raghuveera Reddy and Parthasarathy included their parents also in the oath.
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It is shameful that D.K. Aruna came late even for swearing-in, whatever may be the reason. There is no excuse. Her daughter's wedding had been planned in advance. She must be able to decide whether she can report on time or not. How can the Govt depend on such ministers who can't even reach on time?
I read elsewhere that Ms Aruna broke the law by going under a railway level crossing bar at Rajbhavan Road. Can a minister 'stoop' to such low level? What kind of role model will she be to others?
Ministers who cannot read even Telugu, how do we expect them to read the files put up to them?? Disqualify them.
Shame! Shame! Shame! They dont know or dont care the importance of swearing-in. They might be thinking of what portfolio they would get and how easily they can make money.
It's a shame. What hope can we have from this Cabinet? We should be grateful to them if they do not cause a lot of damage during their rule.
As per the Constitution of India it is the prerogative of the Chief Minister to choose his cabinet and allot the portfolios at his own will, pleasure and choosing. Nowadays the Constitution provisions are followed in the breach and the will of the Chief Minister does not prevail as extra-constitutional bodies prevail even in finalising the cabinet of not only the PM but also CM. As a consequence the allegiance of the Cabinet ministers is not towards the PM/CM but to the extra constitutional bodies who recommended their names not only for ministerial posts but also for prestigious portfolios. This trend/convention is against the Constitution of India. But everybody swears they uphold the Constitution. The causality is the Constitution of India which created the bodies alleged to be served by them. This is nothing else but observing the provisions of the Constitution in the breach. It is a very bad precedent and does not augur well.
It can be excused as more Ministers were not able to read the correct printed matter , they may be more comfortable in English. But what signal the 10 ministers wants to explain the port folio allotted to them are not worth ? Let the CM should abolish these departments and saving a huge for ex- checker.
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