Hyderabad: Cabinet rejig likely

Hyderabad : In a surprise move, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to go in for a minor reshuffle of the Cabinet just three months ahead of the Assembly elections. Normally, no chief minister goes in for any reshuffle just before the elections.

According to party sources, the Cabinet rejig is being done in a day or two to ensure that there was no discontent in the party following the announcement of the first list of candidates. It is learnt that MLC Patnam Mahender Reddy will be inducted into the vacancy that has been pending after Eatala Rajender had quit the pink party. KCR is said to have held a one-on-one meeting with Mahendar Reddy before the announcement of the list. Mahender Reddy wanted to contest the election from the Tandoor Assembly segment. But KCR had decided on the name of sitting MLA Pilot Rohit Reddy. Sources said that in a bid to appease ‘sulking’ Mahendar Reddy, KCR decided to induct him into the Cabinet. Reports indicate that there were serious differences between Mahender Reddy and Rohit Reddy, who had migrated to the BRS from Congress. Rohit Reddy had defeated Mahendar Reddy in 2018 elections. After the polls, he joined the BRS and from then onwards, the two leaders have been locking horns to prove their political hegemony in the Assembly segment.

KCR is also said to be mulling to change the portfolios of some ministers. In the past, Mahendar Reddy was the Minister for Roads and Transport between 2014 and 2018.