With just three days left for the formation of the new cabinet by YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, speculations are flying thick and high in the media circles and rumblings have started within the party.
According to the latest speculation doing rounds in the media, Jagan might not dare sack all the senior cabinet ministers and replace them with fresh faces.
The talk in the YSRC is that it would be difficult for the chief minister to run the show for the next two years with all the new ministers.
“He requires experienced hands to run the administration. Some of the ministers have gained so much hold on their respective ministries that it would be difficult for the new comers to handle them,” sources close to the party said.
Secondly, not all the seniors who were dropped from the cabinet would be interested in handling the party affairs. Though Jagan promised them to make heads of the regional development councils with cabinet rank, they might not accept the same wholeheartedly.
“They are so much experienced that they can handle both ministry as well as the party affairs. Take the case of Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy. Despite being a busy minister with panchayat raj portfolio, the way he steered the party to victory in the local body elections shows his skill,” a party source said.
So is the case with Botsa Satyanarayana, who has a complete grip over the north coastal Andhra districts’ politics, while simultaneously discharging the duties of the cabinet minister.
If Jagan picks new faces in place of these seniors, they might make the administration chaotic and that will ultimately reflect on the party’s performance in the elections.
So, Jagan is said to be rethinking on dropping the seniors. Instead, he would continue many of them, while replacing the not-so-experienced ministers with new faces, whose replacement would not affect his government or the party much.
Though in the cabinet meeting, Jagan indicated that he might retain four or five ministers in the new cabinet, the latest talk is that the number might be more than 10. As a result, only 14 or 15 ministers would be fresh faces in the new cabinet that will be sworn in on Monday.
If he prefers to retain these 10-12 ministers, then Jagan will have to do a lot of balancing act with regard to regional and caste considerations.
In such a case, many aspirants like R K Roja, Ambati Rambabu and Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy would not be able to get the chance, say sources.
