VIJAYAWADA: With the TDP-led NDA registering a landslide victory, bagging close to 165 MLA seats out of the total 175 in the State Assembly, the formation of the Cabinet is likely to be a herculean task to TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, who is all set to take oath as the Chief Minister soon.
Apart from the Chief Minister, there is scope for taking another 25 MLAs into the Council of Ministers.
As the ship of the NDA is overloaded with 165 MLAs elected from the TDP, JSP and BJP, it will be difficult to select a few that too considering the regional and caste equations.
Though sources in the JSP indicated that their party chief Pawan Kalyan may not opt to be part of the Cabinet, the party may seek a considerable number of Cabinet berths as it won all the 21 seats it contested in the elections.
On the other hand, the BJP, which won eight seats of the 10 it contested in the elections, is likely to seek a few Cabinet berths. As the NDA swept several combined districts and many senior leaders got elected from the TDP, it is common that the list of aspirants is likely to grow day-by-day.
Several newly elected former ministers and senior leaders may also come into the race for a Cabinet berth. While there is a heavy competition for the Cabinet berths within the TDP, as some more berths will have to be allocated to the alliance partners, the exercise to form the Council of Ministers is likely to be a challenging task for Naidu, an analyst observed.