Dattatreya, Sujana to join Modi Cabinet

Hyderabad: The new state of Telangana will now have representation in the Union Cabinet as BJP MP from Secunderabad, Bandaru Dattatreya, will be inducted into Union Council of Ministers in the cabinet expansion on Sunday.

• First Cabinet reshuffle today since Modi became the PM
• Telangana at last gets representation in the Union Cabinet
• With Sujana’s induction, TDP will have 2 Central Ministers
• Manohar Parrikar tipped to become the Defence Minister
• Rajasthan, Himachal, UP, Bihar, Haryana and Maharashtra also may find representation in the new Cabinet rejig

On the other hand, the strength of Union Ministers from Andhra Pradesh will rise to two as Rajya Sabha MP Sujana Chowdary, the trusted lieutenant of AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, will also be inducted into the Union Cabinet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to reshuffle and expand his cabinet Sunday to inject fresh talent, give wider representation to states and ease pressure on some ministers. The event is scheduled to take place at the Durbar hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan in the afternoon.

This will be the first cabinet reshuffle since Modi took power in May after leading the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a historic win in the Lok Sabha election. Manohar Parrikar, who resigned as Goa CM on Saturday, is widely tipped to become Defence Minister, divesting Arun Jaitley of the portfolio.

The Sunday event will happen before the start of parliament's winter session Nov 24, giving time to new ministers to familiarise themselves with the working of their ministries. Rajasthan, Himachal, UP and Bihar besides Haryana and Maharashtra may also get representation in the new Cabinet rejig.

Dattatreya and Satyanarayana Cho- wdary who is popularly known as Sujana Chowdary received invitation from the Prime Minister’s Office and left for New Delhi on Saturday.

It is not yet known whether they would get cabinet rank or will be taken in as Ministers of state. Sources say that while Chowdary may be inducted as a Minister of State, Dattatreya may be given either an independent charge or will be made a Cabinet rank minister.

Dattatreya is the sole BJP MP from Telangana. The veteran leader, currently BJP's national vice- president, had earlier served as Minister of State in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cabinet between 1999 and 2004. He held the portfolios of urban development and railways. He is currently the chairman of OBC MPs Association and had previously served on various parliamentary committees.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has of late faced criticism, particularly from the TRS leaders, for not giving any representation to Telangana State in his Council of Ministers. Even the state BJP was sore that its lone MP could not find a place in Modi’s first cabinet.

Earlier, it was said that Dattatreya, 68, would not be considered due to the age limit that had been imposed by the Prime Minister who did not want anyone above 65 in his Cabinet.

But another section said that despite having set such an age limit, the Prime Minister relaxed it in the case of Ram Vilas Paswan, 67, and Najma Hepthulla, 74.Soon after the news of Dattatreya being taken into the Union Cabinet broke, celebrations erupted at the state BJP office. Dattatreya was felicitated by the party leaders and his followers.

Meanwhile, TD circles are jubilant over the induction of another party leader into the Modi Cabinet. Sujana will be the second minister from AP after Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who is presently the Minister for Civil Aviation.

In fact, Naidu had asked for three berths – two from AP and one for Telangana. Speaking to media before leaving for New Delhi, Sujana Chowdary said that he would strive for the overall development of Andhra Pradesh and would pursue with the Centre to see that the provisions o f AP State Reorganisation Act were strictly implemented for the benefit of both the States.