High Expectations on Ministerial Berths in Andhra Pradesh

Vijayawada: Expectations are high among elected legislators of the TD, JS and BJP as also among these party activists, as to who will get the ministerial berths in the government headed by Nara Chandrababu Naidu.

Chief Minister-designate Chandrababu Naidu and his team will be sworn in on June 12.

The alliance won 164 Assembly seats out of a total of 175. Of these, the TD won 135, JS 21 and the BJP eight. This being a large pack, aspirants for ministerial berths are many. The leaders are having a tough time accommodating various interest groups and talents.

Telugu Desam chief Chandrababu Naidu arrived here on Monday after hectic schedules in New Delhi vis-a-vis the formation of the Union Council of Ministers, in which his party has won a share.

Naidu is expected to have a final round of talks with JS chief Pawan Kalyan and BJP top brass on Tuesday.

TD sources said loyalty to the party and the commitment to serve the party are the major criteria for selecting ministers from the party. These are in addition to the caste, region and a host of other considerations.

The AP Cabinet is expected to have 26 members including the Chief Minister. Of these, four berths will be occupied by the JS and two or three by the BJP.

The list of probables for the AP Cabinet includes K. Atchannaidu, Gouthu Sireesha, Koona Ravi Kumar from Srikakulam district, K. Kala Venkata Rao and G. Sandhya Rani from Vizianagaram district and Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu, Vangalapudi Anitha and Ganta Srinivasa Rao from Visakhapatnam district.

From the Godavari region, the probables are Jyothula Nehru, Nimmakayala Chinarajappa, Nimmala Ramanaidu and Yanamala Ramakrishnudu. Gorantla Butchaiah Choudhary might become the Speaker of the Assembly. If not, it could be Anam Ramnarayana Reddy.

From Krishna district, Bonda Uma Maheswara Rao, Gadde Ramamohan and Kollu Ravindra; from Guntur district, Nara Lokesh, Dhulipalla Narendra and Nakka Ananda Babul.

From Prakasam district; Gottipati Ravi Kumar and Damacharla Janardhan. From Nellore district, P. Naryana, Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy and Vemireddy Prashanthi Reddy.

From Chittoor district, V.M. Thomas and Amaranath Reddy. From Anantapur district, Paritala Sunitha, Payyavula Kekshav and Kalava Srinivasulu. From Kadapa district, Madhavi Reddy and Ram Bhupal Reddy. From Kurnool district, B.C. Janardhan Reddy and Jaya Nageswara Reddy.

JANA SENA, BJP: The probables from Jana Sena are its chief Pawan Kalyan who might be named the deputy CM, Nadendla Manohar, Aravinda Srinivas and Bolisetti Srinivas.

From the BJP, the likely choices are Kamineni Srinivas, Adi Narayana Reddy and Satya Kumar.

All eyes are also on how the TD-JS-BJP alliance will fulfil the big promises it made to the people through its election manifesto. Many promises entail huge financial commitment and finding the resources would he a herculean task. The welfare raj of the previous YSRC government has already created a tight financial scenario for AP.

On the positive side, expectations are that the AP government of the three-party alliance will be able to get maximum benefits from the Centre in view of the changed political climate in Delhi. The TD has already pressed for the Special Category State status that can help strengthen the state economy and industrial activities.