Hyderabad: The victory of the Telugu Desam and the BJP combine in the Seemaandhra Assembly elections has brought cheer to its leaders. But the Cabinet formation may prove to be problematic due to multiple claimants from both parties for ministerial berths at state and central levels.
While emphasising that the TD is very much part of the National Democratic Alliance, TD president N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Friday night that he will have to decide on the TD’s representation in the Narendra Modi Cabinet only after talking to leaders in Delhi.
As per the statute, including the Prime Minister, the Union Cabinet cannot exceed 15 per cent of the total strength of the Lok Sabha — 81 ministers. The strenght of the Seemandhra Cabinet needs to be capped at 26.
Mr Naidu. however, did not revealed his stand about sharing power with the BJP in the state, saying that he needs to discuss the issue with the BJP.
The demand for the representation from Telangana and Seemandhra could complicate the issue. For example, Bandaru Dattatreya is the only BJP MP from Telangana. Since he was a minister of state in the Union Council of Ministers, he will stake his claim to being a minister again.
Similarly, the BJP won two seats in Seemandhra. The Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat was won by the party’s Seemandhra president Kambhampati Haribabu, who defeated YSR Congress leader Y.S. Vijayalakshmi.
Mr Haribabu’s clout in the party and especially his association with former BJP national president Mr Venkaiah Naidu, may help him secure a berth in the Union Cabinet.
The other winner was Mr Gokaraju Gangaraju, but he may not want to claim a Cabinet post. If Mr Chandrababu Naidu stakes a claim for his party to be represented in the Union Cabinet, he is likely to choose MPs close to him.
