Hyderabad / Delhi: The decks have been cleared for the much anticipated Telangana’s cabinet expansion following a series of meetings of State leadership with the Congress party High Command. The leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is believed to have given his nod for the proposals put forth by PCC.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and PCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud met AICC general secretary KC Venugopal on the second day in Delhi on Monday and had an elaborate discussion over the matter. Soon after, they met Rahul Gandhi at his residence and discussed the cabinet expansion and explored the possibility of inducting a new PCC executive. For the past several months, the issue has been dragging on at different levels, owing to the need to fulfill caste and social equations.

However, the AICC this time purportedly decided to clear obstacles at the top level of decision making. Meanwhile, for revamping the State executive, another meeting will be held with party High Command. Revanth Reddy and Mahesh Goud have been asked to discuss the matter in Delhi to finalise the names on May 30.

Mahesh Goud who briefed the media in Delhi clarified that this time, the AICC has reached a conclusion and the Cabinet expansion proposal has been approved by Rahul Gandhi. For the six berths in the Cabinet, a decision has been taken to fill five for now. There are numerous contestants from different sections. The PCC chief is batting for two BC candidates, limiting the scope for upper castes. Amongst the top contenders from Reddy community include Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy, Sudarshan Reddy, besides BC candidates Beerla Ilaiah and Whip Aadi Srinivas.

From the ST community, Balu Naik and Ramchadra Naik are pushing for their names. Other candidates include Vivek Venkataswamy, Vakiti Srihari and Prem Sagar. There are also plans to satisfy those who fail to get a berth to adjust in the upcoming PCC executive committees.

To add to the confusion, earlier in April, former Home Minister Jana Reddy urged the party high command to consider the appeal of the MLAs from the erstwhile Rangareddy and Hyderabad districts for Cabinet Minister post. He allegedly backed Ibrahimpatnam MLA Malreddy Ranga Reddy’s candidature. Presently the cabinet has four from Reddy community, two each from BC and SCs, one each from Brahmin, Kamma, Velama and ST, totalling 12, including Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.