All speculation was laid to rest on Wednesday with chief minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy unveiling his jumbo Cabinet of 39 ministers. Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan swore in the ministers at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday morning.
Of the 39 ministers, 16 (40 per cent) were from Telangana and 24 (including the chief minister) were from the Andhra region which also comprises Rayalaseema. Though it was not declared, it is understood that the deputy chief minister’s post will also be allocated to a minister from Telangana who, in all likelihood, will be Mr Damodar Raja Narasimha. This time too, Adilabad district did not get any representation.
It is, however, difficult to gauge the amount of independence the chief minister had in choosing his team as 28 ministers from the previous Cabinet were retained and some of the 11 new ministers clearly made it against the chief minister’s wishes.
There were also no surprises among the ministers who were dropped. Staunch Jagan loyalists Mr P. Subash Bose and Mr B. Srinivasa Reddy besides the chief minister’s bête noire, Mr P. Ramachandra Reddy, were shown the door. Mr Shilpa Mohan Reddy and Mr Gade Venkata Reddy lost their posts due to regional equations.
Party heavyweight K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, whose political obituary scribes were busy writing, however, got the last laugh as he managed to retain or secure places for all his followers.
Leaders like Mr P. Shanker Rao and Dr D.L. Ravindra Reddy were rewarded by the high command for their Jagan-bashing and as was expected, YSR’s brother, Mr Vivekananda Reddy, became minister for the first time in his two-and-a-half-decade long political career.
The chief minister, however, was able to finalise the portfolios late in the evening.
The Reddy community dominated the Cabinet with 13 ministers taking the oath besides the chief minister, while 10 belonged to the backward classes, three each from Kapu, Mala and Madiga communities and one each from Scheduled Tribes, Brahmin, Kamma, Vysya, minority, Kshatriya and Velama.