Andhra Pradesh chief minister Mr N. Kiran Kumar Reddy received a go-ahead from the Congress central leadership on Sunday to expand his Cabinet in the next few days by inducting three legislators from the Telangana region. The party brass, however, did not approve a full-scale reshuffle as had been proposed by the chief minister.
According to sources, Deputy Speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka will take the place of sacked minister Dr P. Shanker Rao and senior MLA from Huzurnagar constituency in Nalgonda district, Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy, will be inducted into the Cabinet to fill the vacancy caused by Mr Komatireddy Venkata Reddy, who had resigned for the cause of Telangana.
There is, however, confusion over the third member. Sources said that it would be a toss-up between MLA from Narayankhed segment in Medak district Mr P. Kista Reddy or Mr Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy from Warangal district. It is being speculated that one of them will be considered for the Deputy Speaker’s post that will fall vacant after Mr Vikramarka’s induction into the Cabinet.
The Cabinet expansion will either take place on February 8 or on February 9. Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy, who was confined to AP Bhavan in New Delhi for most of the day on Sunday, managed to meet party president Mrs Sonia Gandhi at around 6.30 pm. He, along with Congress general secretary and in-charge of AP affairs, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, and the Congress president’s political secretary Mr Ahmed Patel met Mrs Gandhi for half an hour.
After the meeting at 10, Janpath, Mr Reddy rushed to the airport to catch a late flight to Hyderabad. “Everything (the expansion) will be over in the next three days,” Mr Reddy said. Sources said both Mr Patel and Mr Azad insisted that the CM waited for a few more months till after the bypolls to the vacant Assembly seats and the local body polls before he went in for a full scale Cabinet reshuffle.