Big changes on the cards

​Vijayawada: The AP Cabinet reshuffle and expansion is likely to see several surprises. The speculation is that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is planning to reorganize his Cabinet by dropping some and inducting more, any time between Vinayaka Chaturdhi on September 5 and Vijayadasami on October 11.

Having successfully conducted the Krishna Pushkaralu and constructed the temporary secretariat as promised, the Chief Minister is planning to restructure his Cabinet that would reflect his ‘tech-savvy’ image. The government with its present 20-minister strength can go for another six given the strength of the Assembly. The Chief Minister wants to fill the six vacancies, besides making some changes in the existing strength.

The most assured induction into the Cabinet, going by the buzz, would be that of Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao. The sources said that Sivaprasada Rao is unwilling to continue as presiding officer and wants to be in the Cabinet. He had reportedly expressed his wish to be in the Cabinet to the Chief Minister a couple of times.

The word is that Sivaprasada Rao had also suggested the name of Ponnuru legislator Dhulipalla Narendra to be his successor as Speaker for which Chandrababu Naidu had responded positively. The capital region that comprises Krishna and Guntur districts is set to see some surprises with the Chief Minister dropping a few and taking new faces.

The Guntur district is likely to lose its two ministers, Prathipati Pulla Rao and Ravela Kishore Babu, as the Chief Minister and even his son Lokesh, who is the party national general secretary, are unhappy with their performance. While Kodela is set to fill one place, Kishore Babu’s place is set to go in favour of Vemuru MLA Nakka Ananda Babu, who has been waiting for the call.

In Krishna, Minister Kollu Ravindra, in all probability, will be replaced with Jaggaiahpet legislator Sriram Rajagopal, a two-time legislator. The major change that would have an impact on the capital would be that of dropping of Minister P Narayana, who is playing key role in the Amaravati planning and development.

It is said that the Chief Minister wants Narayana to be relieved of the Cabinet responsibilities and be made chairman of the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) with Cabinet rank. Currently the Chief Minister himself is the chairman, while Narayana is vice-chairman, holding responsibilities of the new capital.

The Chief Minister had also cleared the names of three legislators from the YSR Congress who have defected to the party recently. The names of Sujayakrishna Ranga Rao from Vizianagaram, Bhuma Nagi Reddy from Kurnool, Jyothula Nehru from East Godavari district have been cleared as sure names to get a place in the Cabinet.

The Chief Minister is planning to cut the size of some ministers by shifting them to the new portfolios. Those names included Ministers Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Siddha Raghava Rao and Nimmakayala Chinarajappa, with whom the Chief Minister is said to be unhappy.

A senior leader in the TDP asserted that these changes would take a final shape in the third week of September by which time the Chief Minister plans to begin administration from the temporary secretariat at Velagapudi. The Chief Minister, while retaining his camp office in the city, is learned to have decided to stay more time in the Velagapudi complex to ensure that the secretariat employees and ministers function from the new capital.