Revanth To Meet Kharge To Finalise Portfolios
Speculation about a possible reshuffle of portfolios of ministers intensified on Monday following Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's sudden departure for Delhi.
Hyderabad:Speculation about a possible reshuffle of portfolios of ministers intensified on Monday following Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's sudden departure for Delhi. The trip immediately after Sunday’s induction of three ministers triggered speculation about an imminent reshuffle of portfolios. The three new ministers have not yet been assigned portfolios.
Revanth Reddy was scheduled to meet AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday but it was postponed to Tuesday morning. On Monday, the Chief Minister met AICC general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal for one hour. Party sources confirmed that the finalisation of the Cabinet portfolios is now expected to be decided during Revanth Reddy’s meeting with the Congress president.
The sources revealed that a consensus on the portfolio allocation was reached during the meeting between Revanth Reddy and Venugopal and it will receive the official sanction during his meeting with Kharge.
As part of the reshuffle, the sources indicated that senior ministers, who hold multiple portfolios, could be relieved of some of their responsibilities. For instance, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who currently handles the portfolios of finance and energy, may be relieved of his finance and energy responsibilities. He could be allotted the crucial home portfolio.
The reshuffle of portfolios also aims at streamlining the workload of key ministers. Uttam Kumar Reddy oversees two portfolios — irrigation and civil supplies — while Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy handles three — revenue, housing, and I&PR.
Similarly, other ministers like Jupally Krishna Rao, Tummala Nageswara Rao, Danasari Anasuya Seethakka, Konda Surekha, Ponnam Prabhakar, and D. Sridhar Babu holding multiple portfolios, and may some of them being assigned to others. The Chief Minister himself holds important portfolios like home, education and municipal administration and urban development.
In addition to the portfolio reshuffle, Revanth Reddy has reportedly requested the party high command to fill the remaining three vacancies in the Cabinet at the earliest to pacify senior leaders, who were left out of the Sunday's cabinet expansion.
Revanth Reddy has also urged the party leadership to approve appointments for various state-run corporations to accommodate those left out in the cabinet expansion due to caste, political and regional considerations. All these matters are expected to be finalised in the crucial meeting with Kharge on Tuesday.
