All 24 members of the Andhra Pradesh cabinet will submit their resignations when they formally meet here for the last time on April 7, so that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy can reshuffle his cabinet. The new cabinet will be included on April 11.
Although there will be new faces in the reshuffled cabinet, at least four from the current party could be reinstated, official sources said. Caste criteria could play an important role in forming a new cabinet, they said.
When he took over as chief minister on May 30, 2019, Jagan announced that he would completely reshuffle his cabinet after two and a half years and take on a new party. The current cabinet was sworn in on June 8, 2019 and was scheduled to remain in office until December 8, 2021.
Cabinet reshuffle was postponed even after the scheduled date for various reasons, including the Kovid-19 epidemic. Last month, the chief minister announced that he would reshuffle the cabinet after the formation of Ugadi (Telugu New Year’s Day which fell on April 2) and subsequently the formation of new districts.
New districts were formed on April 4, clearing the way for cabinet reshuffle. The existing structure of the Council of Ministers with five Deputy Chief Ministers will be maintained, as indicated by the ruling YSR Congress.
One DCM post will be given to each MLA from SC, ST, Muslim, backward caste and Kapu community. Based on the caste count, at least four current ministers may be re-included in the new cabinet.
In the case of the two ministers, there is clearly no alternative candidate from the same caste. As they are expected to return it. Although some more legislators from the same community are on the line, an SC (Madiga) minister may also be re-included due to the dominance of local factors, a minister in the outgoing cabinet noted. The same caste equation could work for another minister, who can confirm rebirth.
In addition to the Reddy community, YSRC’s main pro-government group, Kapu, is expected to find similar choices in the new cabinet, largely to counter the public opposition to film star Pawan Kalyan. He will be a Brahmin again, who will have to be satisfied with the post of Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
There are three women in the current cabinet and the new cabinet is expected to have the same number. Last month, the chief minister remarked that removing ministers did not mean keeping them away.
Some of them will be appointed as district party branch presidents and some as regional coordinators. “We are giving them party responsibilities because of their height and personal reputation as ministers,” Jagan said.
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