CM: Cabinet reshuffle after thorough study

The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, said on Thursday that a Cabinet reshuffle was very much on the cards. He added that a thorough groundwork would be done before getting the final approval from the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi.
Supporting the chief minister’s view on the reshuffle, the Union law minister and in-charge of AP Congress affairs, Mr Veerappa Moily told reporters in New Delhi that there was a need to make changes in the Cabinet and it would be done after the party high command gave the nod.
“I cannot tell you the exact date and time, it will be done at an appropriate time the proposal for reshuffle is not a closed chapter, it is very much there,’’ said Mr Moily.
Mr Rosaiah visited the Parliament Central Hall on Thursday and had a brief interaction with the media. He made it clear that the appointment of the corporation chairmen and other nominated posts would be done only after the Cabinet reshuffle. He also said that sufficient groundwork was being done for the reshuffle and it would be known once the party president gave a green signal.
According to sources, Mr Rosaiah met Mr Veerappa Moily and Mr Ahmed Patel, political secretary to the Congress president, and discussed his proposals on the reshuffle. Mr Rosaiah is likely to meet Mrs Gandhi on Friday before returning to the state capital.
Meanwhile, Mr Veerappa Moily has announced that Mr Kasani Gyaneswar will be the candidate for the Ranga Reddy MLC polls. He also said that of the two seats from Hyderabad district, one has been offered to the Majlis party as a friendly gesture. He added that the Congress president would take a final decision on the party candidate for the remaining seat. He said the name of PCC president, Mr D. Srinivas, has not been finalised yet and Mrs Gandhi would take a decision on that.

Congress brass goes to Delhi

The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, and the PCC chief Mr D. Srinivas, and scores of other Congress leaders, including ministers, left for New Delhi on Wednesday night amidst reports of a Cabinet reshuffle and selection of candidates for the ensuing Legislative Council polls.

Mr Rosaiah, who will attend the Chief Ministers’ conference convened by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on the price rise issue on Thursday, will take the opportunity to meet the Congress president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, to seek her approval for the reshuffle proposals.

It was evident on Wednesday evening, soon after the scheduled cabinet meeting was over, all the ministers followed the Chief Minister to his chambers and each one tried to meet him for a while to express their loyalty fearing some of them may loose their jobs in the proposed cabinet reshuffle.

Not only that all the ministers waited for the Chief Minister to complete his one-on-one meetings and again followed him downstairs to see him off.

The Chief Minister is expected return from Delhi either with approval for the reshuffle or an indication to defer the exercise for now. He is believed to have been advised against going for changes in the Cabinet to avoid trouble from those who would be dropped and from disappointed aspirants.

But, Mr Rosaiah, according to sources, has decided to brief Mrs Gandhi on the pros and cons and follow her decision.

Mr Srinivas also left for Delhi to attend meetings on the organisational elections. He is also expected to meet Mrs Gandhi and seek her nod on his contest the Hyderabad local body seat in the ensuing Council polls.

The former minister, Mr Shabbir Ali, member in the AP Congress coordination panel, is very much in the race for the seat. Both these leaders are from Nizamabad and considered non-locals for the local body elections.

The decision of the Congress president on the fate of Mr Srinivas will also decide his future plans of joining the Rosaiah cabinet as deputy Chief Minister.

Mr Srinivas is expected to talk to the leadership on the nature of the report he has to submit to the Justice Srikrishna panel on the state bifurcation. The Congress has not come out openly on its stand on bifurcation issue so far. But, when the Srikrishna panel wrote to party presidents to spell out their stand on the issue, Mr Srinivas announced that he would submit a report with the advise of the high command. If that will happen, the Congress party stand on Telangana issue would be known for the first time.

Rosaiah opts to go by Gentleman's Agreement, wants Geeta as Dy CM

The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, is likely to elevate the tourism minister, Dr J. Geeta Reddy, to the post of deputy chief minister in the Cabinet reshuffle slated to take place before the commencement of the Assembly budget session next month.

Mr Rosaiah is proposing the deputy chief ministership to revive a key facet of the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1956.

The agreement signed by Telangana and Andhra leaders before the formation of Andhra Pradesh had several provisions to prevent discrimination against Telangana.

The Chief Minister’s attempt to revivify it should be seen in the context of the ongoing struggle for a separate Telangana.

If Dr Geeta Reddy is not chosen, another MLA from the powerful ‘Reddy’ community would get the post.

The Chief Minister also wants to induct the Speaker, Mr N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, in the Cabinet. He will be allotted the finance portfolio that is presently being held by the Chief Minister himself.

Mr Rosaiah will put his reshuffle proposals before the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, when he goes to Delhi to attend the Chief Ministers’ conference on price rise on January 27.

He is hoping that by the beginning of the budget session, the problems relating to resignations by Congress MLAs from Telangana region would have been sorted out.

But if the Telangana issue stretches beyond January, he will go for the revamp only after completion of the budget session, as by convention no reshuffle or expansion of ministry takes place during the legislative session.

The Chief Minister is presently holding key portfolios such as finance, excise, power, commercial taxes, and women and child welfare.