KCR Cabinet reshuffle on the cards?

Hyderabad: Will Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao go in for a minor Cabinet reshuffle in February? Indications are that he might, since he wants to rope in a woman member and a fresh face into his Cabinet.

It is said that KCR might drop Naini Narasimha Reddy (Home) and A Chandulal (Tribal Welfare) from the Cabinet and might take either Deputy Speaker Padma Devender Reddy or Warangal East MLA Konda Surekha.

“The Chief Minister may tweak the Cabinet in the second week of February. This is said to be the last reshuffle before the 2019 elections. This time, a woman member might get a berth,” sources said.

Sources said both Naini Narasimha Reddy and Chandulal had expressed inability to continue in the Cabinet on health grounds. In their place, the Chief Minister could bring in two new faces and one of them would be a woman, to end the flak that there was no representation to women. Sources in the party said that either Deputy Speaker Padma Devender Reddy or senior leader Konda Surekha might be taken into the Cabinet.

If Padma gets into the Cabinet, Surekha might be given the Deputy Speaker’s post. For the other slot, Chief Whip K Eashwar’s name is doing the rounds. His followers had made a hue and cry when his name was not considered when the Cabinet was expanded in December 2014. However, he was pacified then by the Chief Minister himself and with the post of Chief Whip.

Apart from Eashwar, the other names tipped for the slot include K Swamy Goud and P Rajeshwar Reddy. During the early days of the government, KCR had promised a berth to a leader from TNGOs or TGO. There is also a discussion among party leaders as to who would be lucky to get into the Rajya Sabha since three seats are falling vacant in the Upper House this April and TRS has strength to get all of them.

A senior leader said that newly inducted general secretary of the party J Santosh Kumar is likely to go the Upper House. Though Naini’s name is also figuring in discussions, he may be given an important responsibility in the party.

The Chief Minister had recently promised a Rajya Sabha berth to the Yadava community. However, there is no prominent leader among Yadavas in TRS and the name of Sheep and Meat Development Corporation chairman K Rajaiah Yadav’s name is cropping up. Nomula Narsimhaiah’s name is also in talks as he belongs to Kuruma (also a Yadav) community.