Hyderabad, February 04: Congress leaders aspiring for a Cabinet berth are on tenterhooks, a day before Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy leaves for Delhi early on Saturday. Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy will seek permission from the party leadership for a full-fledged expansion, unlike last time when he was instructed to include two Praja Rajyam leaders in the Cabinet.
Limiting the Cabinet expansion to the PR legislators had led to a lot of criticism from aspirants. They have been building pressure on the CM to take up another exercise before the budget session commences. Now, on the eve of Chief Minister’s visit to Delhi, aspirants are anxious to know whether he will get limited permission to fill up the three vacant posts from Telangana or will be given a free hand to revamp the Cabinet, dropping five to seven ministers and inducting a dozen others.
Doubts are being expressed from certain quarters that in view of the ensuing Assembly budget session and coming bypolls and elections to local bodies, Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy will not be allowed a major reshuffle. Any major changes may lead to dissent from those who will lose their berths and those who do not get picked. It all depends on how the CM manages to convince the party leadership.
Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy will meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad to get their approval for the expansion. If he gets their nod, he is likely to expand the Cabinet on February 9, four days before the budget session begins. Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Uttam Kumar Reddy, J.C. Diwakar Reddy and G. Prasad Kumar are the front runners for the Cabinet posts.