As the proposed revamp of the council of ministers by Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is getting closer, tension is building up among the YSR Congress party MLAs and also the existing ministers.
Jagan has already made it clear that he would revamp the entire cabinet, inducting fresh faces, except a few ministers who might be retained for administrative purposes.
Unlike in the other parties that ruled the state in the past where there used to be extensive lobbying for cabinet berths and even blackmailing of the chief minister, no YSRC MLA has the courage to do any lobbying or bring pressure on Jagan to induct him or her in the cabinet.
Even those who claim to be closer to the chief minister are not able to read Jagan’s mind and they dare not suggest any names to him for the new cabinet.
Jagan is learnt to have asked a couple of senior leaders to suggest names, strictly as per the caste and regional equations, but there is no guarantee that he would consider their recommendations.
Sources who are privy to the discussions between Jagan and his close confidants say that there are definitely going to be surprises in the new cabinet to be formed shortly.
All these days, there have been speculations that Jagan might retain big names like Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, Balineni Srinivas Reddy, Buggana Rajendranath Reddy, Kurasala Kanna Babu etc.
However, it is learnt only two ministers in the present cabinet would be retained and they are: Chelluboyina Srinivasa Venugopala Krishna from Ramachandrapuram and P Jayaram alias Gummanur Jayaram from Aluru in Kurnool district.
This is surprising for everybody, it at all it happens. Apparently, caste equations are playing a role in retaining these two ministers – Chelluboyina hails from Setti Balija community from East Godavari district and Jayaram represents Valmiki community, which is very powerful in Kurnool.
Jagan is not able to find better candidates from these communities. Hence, he has decided to retain them. All the other ministers, including seniors, would be dropped.
It is learnt the Mekapati family from Nellore has turned down the offer of Jagan for a cabinet berth. As a result, the chance might now go to Kakani Goverdhan Reddy, presently chairman of assembly privileges committee.
Similarly, Jogi Ramesh, a staunch loyalist of Jagan and his father late Y S Rajaskehar Reddy, is also likely to get the cabinet berth.
Ramesh, who represents Gowda community, hails from Pedana assembly constituency and he might replace Perni Nani in the cabinet.
The other names who are learnt to have been finalised are: Gudivada Amarnath from Anakapalle and Malladi Vishnu from Vijayawada (central). More names are expected to surface in a day or two.
