E-Paper
Jagan dissolves state cabinet ahead of reshuffle on April 11
At the end of the three-hour-long cabinet meeting held at the state secretariat in Amaravati, the chief minister sought resignations from all the 24 cabinet ministers.
YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister (CM) Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy dissolved his cabinet on Thursday to form an entirely new council of ministers with intention of having 90% fresh faces, a party leader privy to the development said.
At the end of the three-hour-long cabinet meeting held at the state secretariat in Amaravati, the chief minister sought resignations from all the 24 cabinet ministers, saying that he would utilise their expertise for the party in the run-up to 2024 assembly elections in the state.
According to the statement from chief minister’s office (CMO), the new cabinet will be sworn in at a specially erected stage on the state secretariat lawn around 11.30 am on April 11, which is locally considered as an auspicious day – Chaitra Suddha Dasami.
Briefing reporters later, outgoing state minister for information and public relations Perni Venkatramaiah said that all the ministers of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government had resigned as per his (Jagan’s) directions.
“These (resignations) are in accordance with the chief minister’s wish to strengthen the party machinery by assigning key responsibilities to the experienced party seniors to prepare the party for the 2024 elections. This decision of the chief minister was happily accepted and welcomed by the entire cabinet,” Venkatramaiah said.
Later in the evening, the resignation letters were sent to Raj Bhavan via a special messenger for acceptance by governor Biswabhushan Harichandan, a CMO spokesperson said.
On Wednesday night, the chief minister had met the governor to formally request him to administer the oath of office to the new ministers.
At the time of the formation of the first cabinet on June 8, 2019 itself, Jagan had declared that the term of the council of ministers would be only two-and-a-half years and that he would revamp it completely with new faces in December 2021. However, the CM deferred his plans by four months due to Covid-19 pandemic.
The only reshuffle Jagan made in his cabinet was on July 22, 2020, when he inducted two ministers – Chelluboyina Srinivasa Venugopala Krishna and Seediri Appala Raju — in place of two senior ministers Mopidevi Venkata Ramana and Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose, who had to quit the cabinet after being elected to Rajya Sabha.
The new cabinet is expected to have all new faces, barring four or five ministers of the dissolved cabinet, who might be retained. “The chief minister told us that he might retain four or five ministers while revamping the cabinet with fresh faces,” outgoing civil supplies minister Kodali Nani told the reporters.
A senior YSRCP legislator on the condition of anonymity said that Jagan might retain four ministers – Chelluboyina Srinivasa Venugopala Krishna, Seediri Appala Raju, Gummanuru Jayaram and Adimulapu Suresh, taking their caste and regional equations into consideration.
Jagan is also likely to continue the tradition of reserving 50% of the cabinet berths to SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities and women, the YSRCP leader quoted above added. “The chief minister would also continue with the practice of appointing five deputy chief ministers, representing weaker sections,” he said.
Nani said he will abide by the CM’s decision and will happily accept whatever assignment Jagan gives him. “I will serve the party as Jagan’s loyal soldier, irrespective of whether I am a minister or not,” he said.
Venkatramaiah said the CM had thanked all the outgoing cabinet ministers and assured them that he will make best use of their expertise. “He told us that he had spent a happy time with all of us for the last 1000 days and that he was a bit pained for dropping us from the cabinet. But we said we all will abide by his decision,” Venkatramaiah said.
During their tenure, the outgoing cabinet had taken some crucial decisions such as extension of “zero interest” scheme for the loans obtained by women self-help groups for the third consecutive year and banning of private practice by government doctors etc.
In another development, former Andhra Pradesh minister and TDP leader, Kollu Ravindra, on Thursday alleged that state labour minister and YSRCP leader Gummanur Jayaram is involved in a ₹735 crore corruption case. He accused Jayaram of amassing ₹735 crore in past three years under the YSRCP rule. Ravindra said that Jayaram is focused on buying expensive cars instead of ensuring proper governance in the state.
With Agency Inputs
