All eyes are now focused on the expected revamp and reshuffle of the Kiran Kumar Reddy Cabinet, which has been awaiting green signal from the Congress High Command.
Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, who will be completing two years in office in November, has been planning for quite some time to reshuffle his ministry in order to have his own team. However, he could not get the required nod from the Central party leadership on some pretext or other. During his recent visit to the national capital in this regard, he was advised to wait till the completion of revamp of the Union ministry.
Now with the revamp and reshuffle of the Manmohan Singh ministry on Sunday, which in a way has cleared the decks for a similar exercise in the State, the Chief Minister would like to complete the task as soon as possible by securing the clearance from the Delhi bosses.
However, what has become a talking point in political circles here is the manner in which the Congress High Command had kept both the Chief Minister and the APCC president in the dark about the names of those to be inducted in the Union cabinet on Sunday. Thus under such circumstances, political circles wonder whether Kiran Kumar Reddy would have a free hand in revamping his ministry. Will the revamp of the State cabinet, if permitted, also have the Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi stamp as was evident in the Union ministry reshuffle on Sunday, is the question that is being debated in political circles here.
It is pertinent to note here that the Kiran Kumar Reddy cabinet is a divided house with many senior ministers, including Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha taking cudgels against him over his style of functioning. The Chief Minister has come in for severe criticism for his alleged dictatorial attitude and taking unilateral decisions on various issues. Some of the ministers like K. Jana Reddy and Dr D.L. Ravindra Reddy have become a thorn in his flesh for taking pot shots at him at every given opportunity. As a matter of fact, it would not be an exaggeration to state that Kiran Kumar Reddy has virtually become isolated in his the cabinet.
Thus against this backdrop, the Chief Minister has been contemplating for quite sometime to get rid of such “irritants” from his ministry by showing them the door or clipping their wings during the reshuffle. However, after having seen the game plan of the Congress High Command in Sunday’s rejig of the Union cabinet, it is doubtful that Kiran would have a smooth sailing to pick and choose his own team. The APCC Chief might not also cut any ice in this aspect.
Even political analysts feel that with as many as 10 ministers from the State in the Union cabinet, the High Command would take into cognizance their views and assessment rather than give a blank cheque to the Chief Minister in the composition of his ministry if a revamp and reshuffle of the State cabinet is given the needed approval. (NSS).