Andhra Pradesh cabinet reshuffle likely; aspirants’ list grows long

VIJAYAWADA: Speculation is rife about Andhra Pradesh Cabinet reshuffle and many aspirants including firebrand YSRCP leaders are pinning hopes on getting berths in the Cabinet. The YSRCP came into power with a mammoth majority and there was huge competition for Cabinet berths during that time. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy decided to reshuffle the Cabinet after two-and-a-half years to give chances to others.

Recently, the BJP-led union government Cabinet was reshuffled according to equations to face the next elections. Similarly, the YSRCP would rejig the state Cabinet considering the next general elections to strengthen the party.

Jagan Mohan Reddy, under social engineering concept, kept five deputy Chief Ministers’ posts and priority to all sections in his Cabinet. There was no representation of minorities in the earlier Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government but Jagan gave deputy Chief Minister’s post to Amzath Basha who belongs to a minority community. The YSRCP legislators who had played active roles when the party was in opposition were hoping to be placed in the Cabinet but missed and now, they are expecting ministries in the Cabinet reshuffle. According to the sources, the Chief Minister is considering the performance of ministers to continue them further in the Cabinet but only a few countable ministers were on the safe side.

According to the sources, the Cabinet is expected to make another reshuffle in the next three months or in December this year. The sources informed that the Chief Minister was unhappy with the performance of some ministers and they would be sacked from the Cabinet. Jagan Mohan Reddy, in a major development, stripped two of his ministers of important portfolios by their subjects from revenue to finance department. Registrations and stamps being looked after by deputy CM Dharmana Krishna Das and commercial taxes department being looked after by Deputy CM K. Narayana Swamy were transferred to finance under the charge of finance minister Buggana Rajendranth Reddy.

There is widespread debate over who will replace the current ministers in the forthcoming cabinet expansion. According to sources, the positions of Ch. Venugopalakrishna and Sidiri Appalaraju, who became ministers in the middle after Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose and Mopidevi Venkataramana became MPs after the first Cabinet expansion, are safe for now. Apart from them, senior ministers Botsa Satyanarayana, Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, Mekapati Gautham Reddy, P. Anil Kumar Yadav, Kursala Kannababu, Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao alias Nani, Muttamsetti Srinivas, Mekathoti Sucharita and Buggana Rajendranath Reddy are on the safe side.

The present situation in districts would also be considered to give chance to legislators in the Cabinet reshuffle. Opposition TD is continuously campaigning against YSRCP government from the beginning on every issue for the past 25 months, halted many government programmes and schemes taking advantage of technical snags and but only a few ministers strongly retaliated opposition attacks hence political activeness also would be considered in view of coming elections in performance evaluation.

This time the list of leaders hoping for ministerial posts is big. According to sources, senior leader and Jagan Mohan Reddy’s relative Y.V. Subba Reddy who worked as TTD chairman is seeking a minister post but the chances seem to be very low. Assembly Speaker Tammineni Sitaram is also said to be vying for a minister post.  Sources further informed that Ambati Rambabu, Samineni Udaya Bhanu, Shilpa Chakrapanireddy, Granthi Srinivas, Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, Talari Venkat Rao, Kalavati, Ushashree Charan, Kiliveti Sanjeevaiah, Kolagatla Veerabhadraswamy, Peedika Rajanna Dora, KP Parthasarathy, Jogi Ramesh, Alla Ramakrishna Reddy and others are putting a lot of hopes to get Cabinet berths.