Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy said here on Sunday that all regions, religions, caste and gender would be given their due share in the new state Cabinet which will be sworn in on Wednesday, December 1.
In a clear attempt to remove all traces of the late Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy from his administration, he called on all advisers to the state government, including Mr K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, to put in their papers. Mr Vivekananda Reddy, brother of the late YSR and uncle of rebel MP Jaganmohan Reddy, meanwhile, called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi here on Sunday and reportedly discussed the Jagan rebellion. The grapevine has it that Mr Vivekananda Reddy might be inducted into the Kiran Reddy Cabinet and given the plum portfolio of home in an attempt to isolate and neutralise Jagan.
Mr Kiran Reddy, who has spent the past two days in New Delhi to finalise the composition of his Cabinet with the top party leadership, said on Sunday: “All religions, regions, caste and gender will be properly balanced in the new Cabinet.” He added that there was a “proper procedure to follow” in announcing the Cabinet, and “that procedure will be followed”. He also declared that he would have a deputy chief ministership belonging to the Telangana region.
Mr Kiran Reddy met law minister M. Veerappa Moily, who is the AICC in-charge for Andhra, earlier in the day, and later called on Mr Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and discussed Cabinet composition. In the evening, he met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Mr Vivekananda Reddy met Mrs Sonia Gandhi and reportedly discussed the Jagan rebellion in the backdrop of the rebel MP’s Saakshi TV channel openly attacking Mrs Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi. While there was no official word on the meeting, it assumes significance as Mr Vivekananda Reddy is learnt to be in the running for a state Cabinet berth. Unconfirmed reports claim he may get the home portfolio in what is being seen as an attempt to politically neutralise Jagan. Mr Vivekananda Reddy had said Saturday that Jagan would meet Mrs Sonia Gandhi and personally apologise for the airing of the one-hour TV programme which depicted her, Rahul Gandhi and Dr Singh in a bad light.