Hopes soar in north Andhra as Jagan set to expand his Cabinet

Visakhapatnam: With Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy all set to expand his Cabinet next week, speculation is rife over probables in his 'dream team.'

Expectations are high from the leaders of north Andhra comprising Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts with ministerial aspirants in all the three districts are trying to pull all strings to get the plum post.

The north Andhra, which was always a stronghold of Telugu Desam Party, however, swept by 'Jagan wave' that bagged 28 out of 34 constituency seats in the region, which was no less a rude shock for the TDP that expected a comfortable win, banking on its welfare schemes.

While the YSRCP made a clean sweep in Vizianagaram district bagging all the nine Assembly seats, it won in eight out of 10 constituencies in Srikakulam district. In Visakhapatnam district, the party sprang a surprise by emerging victorious in 11 constituencies out of 15.

It is learnt the Chief Minister may give priority to those who served in the Cabinet of his father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. In such a scenario, Dharmana Prasada Rao, who won from Srikakulam constituency, and Botcha Satyanarayana, who was elected from Cheepurupalli of Vizianagaram district, are sure to find a place in his Cabinet.

The chances of getting a ministerial berth are bright for B Mutyala Naidu (Madugula) and Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao (Bheemunipatnam), while other leaders including, Thammineni Seetharam (Amudalavalasa), Kolagatla Veerabhadra Swamy (Vizianagaram), P Pushpa Srivani, Kurupam constituency hope against the hope.

The other strong aspirants from the region includes Gudivada Amarnath, Anakapalle and Tippala Nagireddy from Gajuwaka, who defeated actor-turned politician and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan with a comfortable majority. However, the suspense on the composition of his ministry ends in a couple of days.