Hyderabad, November 28: Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s Cabinet will not be in place till Wednesday as the confabulations with party senior leaders over who should be chosen for the berths are not over yet.
It is more or less clear that Kadapa MP Jagan Mohan Reddy’s loyalists Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose and Balineni Srinivasa Reddy, both members of Rosaiah’s cabinet, will be dropped.
Former minister Silpa Mohan Reddy is also likely to face the axe. The constitution of the cabinet is being delayed as Delhi intends to get the total formula right – deputy chief minister, PCC chief and a right mix of old and new faces. Former minister B Satyanarayana continues to be the front-runner for the PCC chief ’s post while another former minister J Geeta Reddy is being considered for the post of Assembly Speaker.
Though the names of Damodar Rajanarasimha and K Jana Reddy are doing the rounds for the deputy chief minister’s post, a surprise is also likely. APCC president D Srinivas is also said to have thrown his hat into the ring saying he should be considered for having bravely fought Telangana by-polls on the directions of the party.
But he has to be accommodated in the council as he is not a member of the Assembly.
The Chief Minister, who was busy meeting party president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and several other dignitaries in Delhi, could not get round for a thorough discussion with leaders who matter in the selection of the Cabinet. Hence, he decided to stay put in the national capital for one more day. Another reason for the delay was that party affairs in-charge Veerappa Moily was out of station.
“The exercise is not over yet. It would be completed by tomorrow,” the chief minister told mediapersons in the evening but would not give any hint as to the size of his cabinet. He, however, said the deputy chief minister’s post would go to Telangana.
“Hundred percent, it will go to a Telangana leader,” he asserted.
He did not say when the cabinet would be sworn in but asserted that it would be done as soon as the names were finalised. He, however, said the cabinet would have only Congress MLAs in reply to a question if the PRP would also join the government.
–Agencies–