YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Sunday announced the list of new cabinet ministers to be sworn-in on Monday, after a lot of brainstorming and thorough exercise of balancing of caste and regional equations.
The new cabinet includes 11 members of the previous cabinet that was dissolved on April 7; besides 14 other fresh faces.
The list of the 25-member cabinet has been forwarded to Raj Bhavan for the approval of Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan. He will administer oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers at a grand ceremony on the lawns of the state secretariat at Velagapudi in Amaravati at 11.31 am on Monday.
According to an official release from the chief minister’s office (CMO), the ministers of the previous cabinet who are being retained in the new cabinet are: Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, Botsa Satyanarayana, Buggana Rajendranath Reddy, Pinipe Vishwarup, Ch Srinvasa Venugopala Krishna, Gummanur Jayaram, Seediri Appala Raju, Adimulapu Suresh, K Narayana Swamy, Md Amzad Basha and Taneti Vanitha.
The remaining members of the new cabinet are: Dharmana Prasada Rao, P Rajanna Dora, Gudivada Amarnath, Buddi Muthyala Naidu, Dadishetti Raja, Karumuri Nageswara Rao, Kittu Satyanarayana, Jogi Ramesh, Ambati Rambabu, Meruga Nagarjuna, Vidadala Rajini, Kakani Govardhan Reddy, Roja K. Selvamani and Usha Sricharan.
{{/usCountry}}The remaining members of the new cabinet are: Dharmana Prasada Rao, P Rajanna Dora, Gudivada Amarnath, Buddi Muthyala Naidu, Dadishetti Raja, Karumuri Nageswara Rao, Kittu Satyanarayana, Jogi Ramesh, Ambati Rambabu, Meruga Nagarjuna, Vidadala Rajini, Kakani Govardhan Reddy, Roja K. Selvamani and Usha Sricharan.
{{/usCountry}}“The newly formed cabinet has a mixture of senior and experienced leaders as well as fresh and young faces, for balanced governance. While the seniors will bring in their expertise and experience to the table, the young leaders will bring in fresh and innovative ideas and initiatives, thus aiding in people-oriented governance,” the CMO statement read.
The previous ministers, however, will be given responsibilities in the party so that they can make use of their experience to ensure the party’s victory in the upcoming assembly and general elections in 2024, it said.
The CMO release said keeping up the motto of fair social representation, the chief minister has increased the representation in the cabinet from 56 per cent in the last cabinet to 68% in the present cabinet. In the previous cabinet, there were five SCs, one ST, seven OBCs, one minority and 11 Other Castes as ministers. This time, the representation has been increased to 11 OBCs, five SCs, one ST and eight OCs.
It also said the representation of women in the cabinet has also been increased from three in the last cabinet to four this time.
The CMO release said in 2019, for the first time in the country, five deputy chief ministers were appointed, out of which, four leaders were from SC, ST, minority and BC. “The same formula is being continued in the revamped cabinet,” it added.