Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy revamps Cabinet, check list of 25 ministers

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday reconstituted the state Cabinet, re-inducting 11 from his first-team and taking in 13 freshers, besides a veteran.

Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan administered the oath of office and secrecy to 25 members of the Cabinet at a public function near the state Secretariat in the capital city Amaravati.

On expected lines, nobody from the Legislative Council was taken into the Cabinet.

The fresh Council of Ministers has been constituted solely on caste and community lines, with the lion's share of 10 berths going to backward classes. Two, including the Chief Minister, are from the minority communities, five from the Scheduled Castes, and one from the Scheduled Tribes.

Four each of the Reddy and the Kapu communities have also been inducted. The Cabinet has four women members, one up from the previous.

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Kamma, Kshatriya, and Vysya communities that had one representative each in the previous Cabinet were now completely left out. The brahmin community was denied a Cabinet berth yet again.

Of the total 26 districts in the state, at least seven did not find any representation in the new Cabinet.

The ruling YSR Congress described it as the "Social Cabinet", with 70 percent representation of the BC, SC, ST, and minority communities.

When he formed his first Cabinet in June 2019, the Chief Minister had announced that he would undertake a revamp after two and a half years (December 2021) and bring in 90 percent new faces, retaining only ten percent (3 members).

By that count, only two ministers, apart from the Chief Minister, were to be retained but Jagan Mohan Reddy has apparently clearly buckled under pressure and brought back 11 from the previous Cabinet, who was made to resign on April 7.

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Amzath Basha Shaik Bepari and K Narayana Swamy, who served as Deputy Chief Ministers in the previous Cabinet, have been re-inducted. Veteran legislator Dharmana Prasada Rao has also been taken into the Cabinet, making him the senior-most minister.

Seniors like Botsa Satyanarayana, P R C Reddy, P Viswaroop, A Suresh, and Buggana Rajendranath also secured a fresh berth.

S Appala Raju, Ch Venugopala Krishna, G Jayaram, and T Vanita got a second chance, owing to caste calculations. Film star RK Roja, serving her second term as an MLA, finally made it to the Cabinet.

Another senior leader Ambati Rambabu, who missed the bus in 2019, also managed to get a berth this time.

Gudivada Amarnath, P Rajanna Dora, B Mutyala Naidu, Dadisetti Ramalingeswara Rao, K V Nageswara Rao, K Satyanarayana, J Ramesh, V Rajini, M Nagarjuna, K Govardhan Reddy and Usha Sricharan were the others who became new ministers.

Rajini, 31, is the youngest member of the Cabinet. Six of the new Cabinet ministers are first-time legislators while 12 are serving their second term.

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As an MLA P R C Reddy is into his sixth term, the oldest of the lot, and Dharmana his fifth, but as a minister, the latter is senior to the former.

Dharmana Prasada Rao previously served as a minister under Chief Ministers Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy, YS Rajasekhara Reddy, K Rosaiah, and N Kiran Kumar Reddy in the erstwhile united AP. PRC Reddy also served as a minister under Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and Rosaiah.

Tribal Rajanna Dora, who has been designated as one of the Deputy Chief Ministers, is into his fourth term as an MLA while four ministers are into their third term.

After taking the oath, half of the new ministers touched Jagan Mohan Reddy's feet in gratitude. Minister Appala Raju also touched the Governor's feet and took his blessings