Andhra Pradesh will get its first woman home minister in Sabita Indra Reddy. She was the minister for mines in the previous cabinet and had a short stint in the IT department as well.
Reddy got elected to the state Assembly from Maheshwaram. Though many see this as a victory for women, bureaucratic and police circles are keeping their fingers crossed. The state is still waging a war against Maosists and handing over the crucial ministry to a “soft spoken” woman legislature is being dubbed a “bold step” even by senior Congress leaders.
“The ministry is mostly run by the police bosses and the intelligence chief, so much so that the home minister is briefed long after a crucial encounter or a major offence has taken place, just before the news is flashed by the media,” a police officer, who did want to be named, said.
“Still, the home ministry is very important portfolio and one has to wait and see how a woman handles the ego issues in the department,” he said.
However, sources close to Reddy said that the minister is aware of the difficulties in handling the ministry. Her husband, Indra Reddy, used to be a home minister in NT Rama Rao’s cabinet between 1994-95.
Meanwhile, YSR has retained K Rosaiah as the state’s finance minister for the second time. Rosaiah, who has the legislative affairs portfolio, is the eldest among all ministers and is an expert at number crunching. Ponnala Lakshmaiah has also been retained as the major irrigation minister. Many projects initiated by Lakshmaiah are at various stages of implementation and YSR is said to be left with no option but to continue him.
While the state will have the same agriculture minister, Raghuveera Reddy, the all-important mines portfolio has been given to B Srinivasa Reddy, who is related to the chief minister. Mines is a ministry that has considerable influence over the power equations in the state, particularly since iron ore, bauxite and granite are a revenue spinner for many politicians.
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