Hyderabad/New Delhi, October 12: As expected, the State Cabinet reshuffle may not take place in the near future.
Though Chief Minister K Rosaiah wants to revamp his Cabinet, he could not get the green signal from party president Sonia Gandhi when he raised the issue during a meeting with her in Delhi on Monday.
It has been widely speculated that Rosaiah might drop some recalcitrant ministers and infuse fresh blood into his government.
But throwing cold water on the hopes of legislators, who were eager to find a Cabinet berth, the Chief Minister told reporters in Delhi that the issue of reconstitution of the Cabinet did not figure in his talks with Sonia.
Sources said Rosaiah briefed Sonia on the situation in Telangana and Jagan Mohan Reddy’s Odarpu Yatra.
He is slated to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday. According to the sources, Rosaiah is keen to rejig his Cabinet since he is finding it difficult to sail along with ministers whose loyalty lies elsewhere. But Sonia has not yet made up her mind on whether to go in for a reshuffle as such an exercise is fraught with the danger of increased dissidence.
Another factor that she appears to be considering is whether the Cabinet revamp two-and-a-half months ahead of Justice Srikrishna Committee’s report on Telangana is advisable.
Rosaiah said this “development” (of no Cabinet revamp) would come as sweet news to some and bitter pill to others. He was implying that ministers loyal to Jagan would continue in his Cabinet for some time.
Prominent among them are Mines and Geology Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy and Social Welfare Minister P Subhash Chandra Bose, who are taking an active part in the Kadapa MP’s Odarpu Yatra in Prakasam district.
–Agencies