VIJAYAWADA: In what is being viewed as a new-look cabinet put in place on Sunday to turbo-charge administration and the party to face next Assembly elections in 2019, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has brought
up his son Nara Lokesh to the second position to lead the team under his guidance.
Naidu's new team of 26 ministers (including himself) is a combination of young blood and grey hair, a result of a delicate balancing act among various communities having a potential to tilt scales in electoral warfare and finally a team with a mission to demolish the edifice of YSRC led by its chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Lokesh would now have to prove himself that he is an able leader and administrator and prepare the party for the next election since he would continue to be general secreatry of the party. His skills in keeping happy those who could not make it to the cabinet would be put to test with YSRC ready to stoke further dissidence in the party taking advantage of the ruffled feelings of the unfortunate.
The new faces inducted into cabinet on Sunday comprised six Reddys who will be asked to demolish Jagan Mohan Reddy politically, four BCs to keep the vast population of BCs in good humour in the wake of Naidu's promise of providing reservations to Kapus after including them among BCs and two SCs who are replacements to the ones who had been sacked in West Godavari and Gntur districts. Nara Lokesh, as Naidu's heir apparent, would be acting as the commander-in-chief of the new scheme of things.
The new faces are: Nara Lokesh (MLC), S Chandramohan Reddy (MLC), Kimidi Kalavenkata Rao (Etcherla, Srikakulam), Sujay Krishna Ranga Rao (Bobbili, Vizianagaram), Pitani Satyanarayana (Achanta, West Godavari), KS Jawahar (Kovur, West Godavari), N Anand Babu (Vemur, Guntur), N Amarnath Reddy ( Palamaner, Chittoor), Kaluva Srinivasul (Rayadurgam, Anantapur), C Adinarayana Reddy,(Jammalamadugu, Kadapa) and Akhila Priya (Allagadda, Kurnool).
Those shown the gate were: Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy, Palle Raghunath Reddy, Peetala Sujata, K Mrunalini and Ravela Ksihore Babu. But Raghunath Reddy is being taken as chief whip in place of Kaluva Srinivasul who is now part of the cabinet.
There was, however, no representation to minorities and tribals in the cabinet. Sources said Naidu could not accommodate them due to various reasons. For instance TDP had no tribal MLA in north Andhra
where their population is high and the limited number of berths in the cabinet had not made it possible to rope in minorities member though he had in fact considered a couple of names.
"The exclusion of tribals and minorities does not mean they would be ignored. Naidu would benefit these communities in one way or the other since they happen to be communities uppermost in his mind,"
said senior leader of the TDP Kambhampati Ramamohana Rao.
Interestingly, the new members included four who had defected from YSRC. They were: Bhuma Akhila Priya, Suajay Krishna Ranga Rao, N Amarnath Reddy and C Adinarayana Reddy. Naidu's critics had been questioning him, ever since there was speculation that YSRC MLAs would be taken into the cabinet, on how he would do it as he himself had found fault with his Telangana counterpart KCR when he took TDP MLA Talasani Srinivasa Yadav into his cabinet.
The cabinet reconstitution on Sunday was not without its does of dissidence. As five ministers were out of the cabinet, it is but natural that they might be very much upset. Among them, Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy (Chittoor Dt) sent in his resignation as MLA to speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao contending that
since he has been axed from the cabinet attributing health reasons, he by the same measure cannot work as MLA too and therefore his resignation letter may be accepted.
Vijayawada central Legislator Bonda Umamaheswara Rao also is very much upset and is reported to have expressed his anguish with those who are close to him that he would quit the Telugu Desam Party.
There were several other cabinet berth aspirants too who seem to be very unhappy over the way they had been left out. Notable was Dhulipala Narendra (Guntur), who, though he was a five time MLA, was not accommodated and Payyavula Kesav, who batted for Telugu Desam party when it was out of power, for nine long years.
According to sources, Naidu made a delicate act of balancing but he could not help some embers continuing to smoulder at the end of the exercise. Expecting this ahead, he in fact had spoken to those
whom he was removing from the cabinet to understand his compulsions and the great task that lay ahead in winning the next election. He is also reportedly persuading the aspirants in several districts not to take their exclusion from the cabinet to their heart but bear with him as he would reward them in some other way.
In Andhra districts, he might be able to douse the embers of dissidence but in faction ridden Rayalaseema, it is a tricky affair. Naidu this time around is concentrating mostly on Rayalaseema and
wants to decimate the YSRC without leaving even any vestiges and for that he has done a lot of ground work in mollifying those leaders who are not taken into the cabinet.
For instance, induction of C Adinaryaana Reddy from Jammalamaduugu in Kadapa district has become a cause for heart burning for former TDP MLA P Ramasubba Reddy who does not see eye to eye with him. He believes that promoting Adinaryaana Reddy would only mean weakening him further. But Chandrababu Naidu is trying to persuade him to stick with the TDP and that he would take care of his interests in some other way.
While taking Akhila Priya into the cabinet, he had to keep Silpa Chakrapani Reddy be happy since both Bhuma and Silpa were sworn enemies for a long time. Now to ensure that both the factions would work
together, Chakrapani Reddy is understood to have been promised the post of chairman of the legislative council for which election would take place in the near future.
Said TDP president K Kala Venkata Rao on the cabinet reconstitution, "The Chief Minister has done a lot of ground work in ensuring representation to most of the castes, keeping in mind many kinds of
forms in which challenges would emerge in future."