Andhra Pradesh cabinet reshuffle: All 24 ministers in YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government set to resign today

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is all set to undertake a major reshuffle in his cabinet. Keeping his promise to provide opportunities to new members, Jagan is likely to go for a completely new team this time. Ahead of the cabinet rejig, slated for April 11, all 24 ministers in the current cabinet will tender their resignations at a meeting with the chief minister today. The Cabinet took oath on June 8, 2019 and Reddy had promised to give chances to MLAs who could not find a place in his first cabinet. The new cabinet is likely to take oath on April 11.

While the reconstituted Cabinet will mostly have new faces, at least four ministers may be re-inducted, reports said. Just like the first cabinet, caste criteria is likely to play a key role in the formation of the new cabinet as well. Jagan had announced on May 30, 2019 that he would undertake a complete overhaul of his Cabinet after two and a half years and bring in a new team.

Last month, Jagan Reddy had announced that he would undertake the Cabinet reorganisation after Ugadi (Telugu New Year’s Day that fell on April 2) and after the formation of new districts. The new districts came into being on April 4 and now all eyes are on the cabinet restructuring. If Jagan chooses to retain the existing structure of the Council of Ministers, then it will again have five Deputy Chief Ministers -one each belonging to SC, ST, Muslim, Backward Caste and Kapu communities.

Apart from the Reddy community, the main support group of the YSRC, Kapu is also expected to get the same preference in the fresh Cabinet as well, essentially to counter the opposition Jana Sena of film star Pawan Kalyan. The one community that would be left out again will be Brahmins, who will have to be content with the Assembly Deputy Speaker post. There are three women in the current Cabinet and the new one is also expected to have the same number.

Those who will be dropped from the cabinet are likely to get new roles in the organisation and will work to strengthen the party, Reddy had earlier said.