Monsoon session stalls AP Cabinet reshuffle

​Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is currently busy with Krishna Pushkaralu scheduled for the middle of August, is likely to go for reshuffle and expansion of his Cabinet in October.

Though it was initially planned for May-June, the Chief Minister had decided to go for it only after the monsoon session of Assembly, scheduled to be held in September. The government is also planning to hold this session in the new secretariat at Velagapudi, which is expected to be ready by end of August.

The Chief Minister is likely to shift their portfolios while there are no indications of ministers being dropped. The two rounds of rankings given to the ministers and the legislators is being analysed seriously by the Chief Minister for the reshuffle.

According to sources, the Chief Minister is planning to shift the portfolios of half-a-dozen ministers. This shifting too is to be limited to some insignificant portfolios except that of Minister for Human Resources Development Ganta Srinivasa Rao, who is not happy with his ministry and is looking for portfolios like ports and industries.

The other significant portfolio to see a new face is that of Agriculture Ministry as the Chief Minister is said to be upset with the performance of incumbent Prathipati Pullarao. Sources said that the Chief Minister is not happy with the performance of the ministers like Mrunalini and Suneetha, who might be shifted to other portfolios.

The State Cabinet has no representation for the STs and the Muslim minorities. The ruling party is facing criticism for as it could not accommodate STs and Muslims in the Cabinet. The Chief Minister now is understood to have set his eyes on giving representation to these two sections in the next reshuffle.

However, he is seriously looking into the aspect of giving representation to the legislators who have defected to the ruling party from the Opposition, YSR Congress. There was a debate in the party recently on inclusion of these legislators into the Cabinet as that might attract criticism from the Opposition.

The TDP in Telangana had filed a petition with Governor ESL Narasimham, against the inclusion of its legislator Talasani Srinivasa Yadav in the TS Cabinet by the TRS. In case the party gets ready to counter this criticism, the Chief Minister might consider inclusion of Bhuma Nagi Reddy, Jyothula Nehru, Sujay Krishna Ranga Rao and Jaleel Khan.

The Chief Minister is under pressure from Assembly Speaker Dr Kodela Sivaprasada Rao. The Speaker wants to come back to the Cabinet. It is said that the next reshuffle would see him in the Cabinet. If that happens, senior legislator from Guntur district Dhulipala Narendra Kumar is likely to succeed him.

The Chief Minister is also under pressure from former MP and Guntur legislator Modugula Venugopala Reddy, who was shifted from Narasaraopet Lok Sabha seat to the Guntur II only after due promise to take him to the Cabinet. As the promise remained unfulfilled in the first Cabinet formation, the legislator is mounting pressure on the Chief Minister to correct it at least in the reshuffle and fulfill the promise.

This time, the Chief Minister is said to be impressed with the cooperation extended by Tadikonda legislator, Tenali Sravan Kumar, in the land pooling for the Capital, Amaravati. As the Chief Minister and the entire government is happy with the successful pooling of the 33,000 acres of land from the farmers for the capital, the Chief Minister wants to reward the local legislator, Sravan Kumar, by giving him a place in the Cabinet.

Other than Sravan, the Chief Minister does not want to have any compassionate positions in the Cabinet as Chandrababu Naidu plans to begin the capital construction work and build a positive image for the government and the party in the years to come.