Andhra Pradesh: Poll-ready Cabinet in place

Vijayawada: The election team of Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy consisting of 25 ministers took oath on Monday.

Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan administered the oath of office and secrecy to members of the revamped Cabinet at a ceremony held near the State Secretariat and attended by leaders and workers of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and senior officials.

Eleven of those who took oath have been part of the earlier Cabinet since June 2019, while the remaining ministers who have been inducted into the cabinet are new faces.

Ambati Rambabu was the first to take the oath. Adimalupu Suresh, Usha Sri Charan and Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy took oath in English while all others completed the formalities in Telugu.

The 14 new ministers are Dharmana Prasada Rao, P Rajanna Dora, Gudivada Amarnath, Buddi Muthyala Naidu, Dadishetti Raja, Karumuri Nageswararao, Kittu Satyanarayana, Jogi Ramesh, Ambati Rambabu, Meraga Nagarjuna, Vidadala Rajini, Kakani Govardhanreddy, Roja K Selvamani and Usha Sricharan.

Those who were re-inotsa Satyanarayana, Peddireddy Ramachandrareddy, Narayanaswamy, Bugducted from the previous cabinet are Botsa Satyanarayana, Peddireddy Ramachandrareddy, Narayanaswamy, Buggana Rajendranath, Gummanooru Jayaram, Seediri Appalaraju, Pinipe Vishwaroopam, Cheluboina Venugopalakrishna, Taneti Vanitha, Amjad Basha and Adimalupu Suresh.

After taking the oath, Gudivada Amarnath and Jogi Ramesh knelt down before Jagan Reddy to thank him. Actor-turned-politician RK Roja and other first-time women ministers V Rajini and Usha Sricharan touched the Chief Minister's feet while the latter blessed them. Roja kissed the hand of the Chief Minister. There were loud cheers by supporters of the ministers when their names were announced for swearing-in. While constituting his first Cabinet in June 2019, Jagan Reddy had promised to revamp it halfway through his tenure. All 24 ministers had submitted their resignations to the chief minister on April 7 to enable him to reconstitute the Cabinet. There was one vacancy due to the demise of Mekapati Goutham Reddy in February.

A lion's share in the revamped cabinet has gone to the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Backward Classes (BCs). Out of 25, a total of 16 ministers are from SCs (5), Ts (1) and BCs (11). In the previous cabinet, these sections had 13 members (5 SCs, 1 ST, 7 BCs). Amjad Basha remained the sole representative from minorities. The representation of Other Castes (OCs) has come down to 8 from 11 earlier.

The number of women ministers has also gone up to four from three in the previous Cabinet. YSRCP stormed to power in 2019, bagging 151 seats in the 175-member Assembly.

Including the Chief Minister, the strength of the state cabinet stayed at 26, which is the maximum strength the council of ministers can maintain.

MINISTERS & PORTFOLIOS

♦    Rajanna Dora Peedika: Dy CM, Tribal Welfare.

♦    Budi Mutyala Naidu: Panchayat Raj, Rural Development

♦    Kottu Satyanarayana: Endowments

♦    K Narayana Swamy: Excise

♦    Amzad Bhasha Shaik: Minority Welfare.

♦    Dharmana Prasada Rao: Revenue, Registration & Stamps

♦    Seediri Appla Raju: Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development & Fisheries

♦    Botsa Satyanarayana: Education

♦    Gudivada Amarnath: IT, Industries, Infrastructure, Investment & Commerce

♦    Dadisetty Ramalingeswara Rao: Roads and Buildings

♦    Pinepe Viswarup: Transport

♦    Ch Srinivas Venugopalakrishna: Backward Classes Welfare, Information & Public Relations, Cinematography.

♦    Taneti Vanitha: Home and Disaster Management

♦    Karumuri Venkata Nageswara Rao: Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs

♦     Jogi Ramesh: Housing

♦    Merugu Nagarjuna: Social Welfare

♦    Vidadala Rajani: Health, Family Welfare & Medical Education

♦    Ambati Rambabu: Water Resources

♦    Adimulapu Suresh: Municipal Administration & Urban Development

♦    Kakani Govardhan Reddy: Agriculture & Cooperation, Marketing, Food Processing

♦    Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy: Energy, Forest, Environment, Science & Technology, Mines & Geology

♦    R K Roja: Tourism, Culture & Youth Advancement

♦    Buggana Rajendranath Reddy: Finance & Planning, Commercial Taxes, Legislative Affairs, Skill Development & Training

♦    Gummanur Jayaram: Labour, Employment, Training and Factories

♦    K V Ushasri Charan: Women, Children, Differently-abled & Senior Citizens' Welfare