Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan strips two CMO aides of all powers

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has stripped all powers of his principal adviser Ajay Kallam and additional chief secretary P V Ramesh, all but showing them the exit doors of the Chief Minister’s Office.

Praveen Prakash, principal secretary to the chief minister, is now head of CMO. Most of the subjects handled by Kallam have been transferred to him. As per the revised allocation of subjects, Prakash will take care of General Admin GAD), Home, Revenue, Finance (excluding expenditure), Law, CMO establishment.

The charges of Education and Health were removed from Dr Ramesh and allotted to Solmon Arokhyaraj, secretary to the CM, and K Dhanunjay Reddy, additional secretary to the CM, respectively. Another special secretary J Murali has also been stripped of all subjects.

Former chief secretary Kallam played a vital role in the YSR Congress’ pitch for the 2019 election and was the architect of the village secretariat system. He was initially made head of CMO and given the all-important subjects GAD, Revenue, Finance and Infrastructure. He was involved in all decision-making.

The situation however changed with the entry of Praveen Prakash into the CMO as principal secretary in September 2019. The crucial subject of GAD and service matters of All India Services officers were handed over to Mr Prakash, who quickly gained the confidence of the Chief Minister.

The matrix in CMO changed so much that Mr Prakash became de facto head of the CMO as he started handling all crucial issues like capital shifting, house sites for all poor and the most contentious State Election Commissioner replacement.

“The government either bungled or received setbacks in all major issues but Prakash’s approach of implementing the Chief Minister’s decision unmindful of the result might have won the CM’s confidence,” sources close to the chief minister pointed out.

Sources said Dr Ramesh was initially offered the Chief Information Commissioner’s post apparently with an idea of easing him out of CMO. It is not clear if it is the same case with Kallam or his was an unceremonious exit. Names of Nagulappali Srikanth and R Muthyala Raju did the rounds for CMO but no decision has been taken yet, sources added.