HYDERABAD: The State Cabinet will be expanded on Sunday and the new ministers will take oath at 4 pm. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday chose the auspicious Dasami day to go in for the second expansion of the Cabinet after he took the reins in December, 2018 for the second time.
But, the moot quest-ion is who the lucky six are. Now, there are 12 ministers including the CM in the Cabinet. Six more can be inducted. According to sources, TRS working president and former IT Minister KT Rama Rao and former Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao are most likely to be inducted into the Cabinet.
Almost exactly a year ago, on September 6, 2018, Rao dissolved the Assembly and went in for early polls and romped home with thumping majority. However, due to the series of elections and without a full Cabinet, governance in the state took a backseat.
Thus, Rao decided to give a fillip to the administration and also to TRS by inducting KTR and Harish Rao into the Cabinet, sources said.
According to sources, KTR and Harish Rao were sure to find a place in the Cabinet. Besides MLC and senior leader Gutha Sukhender Reddy, former Home Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy and MLC Satyavathi Rathod too may be inducted under Reddy, women and ST quota.
It remains to be seen whether Chief Minister Rao will drop any sitting minister from the Cabinet. All eyes will be on Health Minister Etala Rajender, who made the news recently with some “controversial comments”.
The day, in fact, saw several developments. The first announcement was that of the names of new chief whips in the Legislative Assembly and Council. Late in the evening, the government announced that it would be expanding the Cabinet the next day.
Seniors leaders such K Srihari and N Narasimha Reddy can find solace in the fact that the chief minister assured they would be given big posts soon. Governor-designate Tamilisai Soundararajan has been informed of the Cabinet. She will take her oath on Sunday morning, hence the new minister can be expected to be sworn in at 4 pm the dame day.
The chief minister has also decided to fill up the posts of chairpersons of various corporations in due course of time. As many as 12 MLAs, who missed out on a Cabinet berth, are expected to be given such posts.Similarly, senior leaders, such as former Assembly Speaker S Madhusudhana Chary and Minister Jupally Krishna Rao, who were defeated in Assembly elections too will be given important posts.
Rao said MLCs such as K Srihari, former Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy, former deputy Speaker Padma Devender Reddy, Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, senior leader Bajireddy Govardhan Reddy too will be given top posts soon.
“Some senior leaders may be sent to the Rajya Sabha, and others will be appointed as chairpersons of RTC and Rythu Samanvaya Samithi,” Rao said. Immediately after the expansion, the Cabinet will meet at Pragathi Bhavan to approve the full fledged State Budget for year 2019-20.
Padma Devender Reddy won’t be in
CM Rao already said two women will be inducted this time. However, Rao on Saturday made it clear that the front-runner for Cabinet berth Padma Devender Reddy would be not be inducted into the Cabinet. Sources said that this time Rao will also give a berth to Munnuru Kapu, which is numerically strong in the state. Thus, Gangula Prabhakar and Danam Nagender’s names may be considered
Probables
Who missed the cut?