With just a few hours left for the Andhra Pradesh cabinet meeting, tension is said to be mounting in the ministers as to what their fate would be in the next few days.
There is a talk within the YSR Congress party circles that the cabinet meeting to be held on Thursday would be the last for the existing ministers and Jagan would announce the date for the complete revamp of the state cabinet during the meeting.
Though the ministers are aware that their days in the council of ministers are numbered as Jagan indicated a 100 per cent overhaul of the cabinet, they are still tense as to what their fare would be after losing the posts.
Some of them would be entrusted with the key responsibilities in the party, while others would be asked to focus on the implementation of the welfare schemes of the government in their respective constituencies so that they would win the next elections without any hassles.
Sources said the chief minister might take up the cabinet overhaul in the first week of December and not in November, as predicted earlier. As such, the Thursday’s meeting might not be the last cabinet meeting for the present bunch of ministers.
“There will be clarity in the Thursday’s meeting,” source said.
There are also reports that some of the senior ministers had requested Jagan to defer the cabinet overhaul by six months, as most of the ministers could not discharge their duties properly due to Covid-19 pandemic.
However, Jagan is said to be firm on his decision, as it would reduce the term of the new ministers by six months.
“Since there is a possibility of advancing the elections by a few months, the chief minister wants sufficient experience for the new set of ministers as well,” sources said.
It is learnt the team of Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC) led by strategist Prashant Kishor has also come up with certain recommendations on the induction of new ministers into the cabinet.
“The chief minister will do a balancing act with regard to castes, communities, gender and region while forming the new cabinet,” sources added.
