At last, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expanded and reshuffled his cabinet by inducting 43 ministers after sacking 12 sitting ministers.
Almost all the major states in the country have got their representation in the Modi cabinet.
Unfortunately, Andhra Pradesh has got absolutely no representation in the cabinet.
Not a single leader from the state could find a place in the new council of ministers, while all the other states in the south have got their berths.
There was a talk that senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member G V L Narasimha Rao would be inducted in the Modi cabinet during the expansion.
GVL, who hails from Prakasam district, got elected to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh and since he is the only potential leader, everybody expected that he would get the berth.
But Modi ignored GVL and filled up the quota from Uttar Pradesh keeping in view the assembly elections in the state to be held early next year. He did not fit in the scheme of things even if Modi considered the caste equations.
Had YSR Congress party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy agreed to join the National Democratic Alliance, Andhra Pradesh would have got at least two berths in the Modi cabinet – one cabinet and another minister of state rank.
But Jagan was firm on not joining the NDA, keeping in view his political compulsions in the state.
Though he has been maintaining friendly relations with the Modi government at the Centre, he did not want to join the NDA without getting a commitment on the special category status.
Apparently, Jagan’s firm stand upset Modi, who completely ignored Andhra Pradesh.
Maybe, he has reserved a couple of berths for AP to be filled up later, in case Jagan changes in mind and joins the NDA at a later date.
But for now, AP has been given step-motherly treatment in the central cabinet expansion.
