Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy to dissolve Cabinet tomorrow for major rejig

Reddy called on Governor Biswabhusan Harichandran at the Raj Bhawan on Wednesday evening. According to reports, the CM is likely to seek the resignations of ministers after a Cabinet meeting on Thursday. The new Cabinet is likely to take oath on April 11.

After assuming the CM office in June 2019, Reddy had indicated that midway through his term, he would reorganise the Cabinet. The rejig was scheduled to take place last December, but it was postponed due to Covid. Last month, the CM had said that the Cabinet reorganisation will take place after Ugadi, the Telugu New Year on April 2. After carving out 13 new districts, the CM is now going for the Cabinet rejig.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Sri Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy called on Andhra Pradesh Governor Sri Biswabhusan Harichandan on a courtesy visit at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday.@AndhraPradeshCM @ysjagan pic.twitter.com/FoeSM7a3uA

— Governor of Andhra Pradesh (@governorap) April 6, 2022

According to sources, the new Cabinet will have the same structure that includes five deputy CMs — one each representing SC, ST, BC, Kapu, and Muslim communities, and three women ministers. In 2019, the CM had appointed Mekathoti Sucharita as the first Dalit woman Home minister.

In the current Cabinet, there are 11 ministers from forward castes, including four from Reddy community; seven from BC, five from SC, and one each from ST and and Muslim communities.

As the entire Cabinet is based on caste equations, only a few ministers, like Gummanur Jayaram who represents the Valmiki community, and Chelluboyina Srinivas who belong to the Setti Balija community, may be retained. The said communities do not have any other powerful elected member. Even senior and experienced minister like Botsa Satyanarayana said he wasn’t sure if he would be retained. “The Cabinet change has nothing to do with the performance of ministers. The CM had said in 2019 itself that he would bring in fresh faces mid-term,’’ he said.

With dozens of welfare schemes announced by the state government, the CM expects that the new ministers will work to ensure that the benefits reach the rightful beneficiaries. Staunch YSR loyalists who had to be left out earlier to accommodate new faces, may find berths in the rejig. Apart from a good number of ministers from Reddy community, the powerful Kapu community may also get good representation to counter actor-turned-politician K Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena. The ministers who will not be retained would be given positions in the YSR Congress Party in the districts or made the district coordinators, it is learnt.