Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy inducts 14 new faces in Cabinet

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, while keeping his promise made in June 2019 of revamping his cabinet halfway through his tenure, has reconstituted it.

The newly formed cabinet has a mixture of senior and experienced leaders as well as fresh and young faces for balanced governance. While the seniors will bring in their expertise and experience on to the table, the young leaders will bring in fresh and innovative ideas and initiatives to the table, thus aiding in people-oriented governance.

The previous Ministers, however, will be given responsibilities in the party so that they can make use of their experience to ensure the party’s victory in the upcoming assembly and general elections in 2024.The representation given to the SCs, STs, minorities, and Backward Classes by the Jagan-led govt is unheard of in Andhra Pradesh history and the same continues in this cabinet as well.

In 2019, when CM Jagan formed his cabinet, of 24 Ministers, 56 per cent of them were from the SC, ST, OBC and minority sections of the society. Keeping the same motto of fair social representation, the CM has increased their representation in the cabinet to 68 per cent. In the previous cabinet, there were 5 SCs, 1 ST, 7 OBCs, 1 minority, and 11 Other castes MLAs as Ministers.

Out of the 11 Ministers retained from the previous cabinet, 4 from SC, 5 from BC and 2 from Other Category (OC), official sources told ANI. Meanwhile, during Chandrababu Naidu’s tenure in 2014, the OCs representation was 13 while the SCs, and OBCs was 12.

Out of the 12 given, there was no Ministry given to leaders from the ST and minority communities. The same ratio was again maintained in 2017, when the cabinet was revamped again. The STs were included in CBN’s cabinet only four months prior to him completing his tenure. Comparing this with Jagan’s new cabinet, there has been a 50 per cent increase in the SC, ST, BC and minority representation in the cabinet, the official sources said.

In contrast, Chief Minister Jagan taking a landmark decision and proving his commitment, for the first time in the country, five Deputy Chief Ministers (DCMs) were appointed, out of which, four leaders from SC, ST, minority and BC were given a post each in 2019 and the same has continued in this cabinet.The same principle was followed even for the nominated posts and works.

Of the nominated posts and works, including the ZPPs, MPPs, AMCs, temple chairman, Municipal Chairman, Mayors and Corporation chairman positions, CM Jagan reserved 50 per cent of them for SCs, STs, BCs and minorities. CM Jagan has also ensured that the government also passed an act that, out of the 50 per cent representation for the SCs, STs, BCs and minorities, 50 per cent reservation has been given to women, thus empowering them.

The women’s representation is also something the Chief Minister has always focused on and hence their representation has been increased to 4, compared to the previous cabinet of 3. This way, the Chief Minister wants to empower women MLAs and also ensure equal representation in the cabinet, sources said. Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan on Sunday accepted the resignations of 24 cabinet ministers, a day before the Andhra Pradesh Assembly’s new cabinet members will be sworn in.

In an official press communique from the Governor’s office, it read, "On the advice of Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, the Governor has been pleased to accept the resignations tendered by 24 Cabinet ministers with immediate effect.

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"The new Andhra Pradesh Cabinet will be sworn in on Monday, a few days after all 24 ministers submitted their resignation to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The ministers resigned on Thursday ahead of the proposed reorganisation of the Council of Ministers.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had "happily" welcomed the resignation of his cabinet as the YSRCP chief, he claimed that as part of preparation for upcoming state elections in 2024, it is a welcome move. The new AP Council of Ministers will be reconstituted on April 11 with new faces. The ministers will take the oath at 11.31 am, sources said to ANI. This cabinet reshuffle holds importance ahead of the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections.