Hyderabad: The absence of Chief Minister’s son and information technology and panchayat raj minister K.T. Rama Rao at swearing-in ceremony of the six new cabinet ministers and the subsequent Cabinet meeting triggered speculation in political circles.

Rumours were agog that Mr Rama Rao was upset over the inclusion of turncoats in the Cabinet and therefore stayed away from programmes. While Mr Rama Rao was unavailable for comments, his aides dismissed the rumours in a section of media, saying that the IT minister arrived in the wee hours of Tuesday from Dubai, after a hectic tour, and hence did not attend the swearing-in ceremony.

“The rumours are trash. There is absolutely no truth in it. KTR garu has dismissed it. He was ill before leaving for Dubai and wasn’t feeling well and taking rest at home,” an aide to KTR said. Mr Rama Rao’s absence at Siddipet water grid presentation programme by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao also raised eye brows of political analysts.