VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s Cabinet 2.0, reconstituted with 11 new faces, took oath on Monday to cheers from their supporters.
AP Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers at the ceremony held at Velagapudi near the State Secretariat and attended by leaders and workers of YSR Congress (YSRC) and senior officials.
Later, the government rejigged some portfolios. Botsa Satyanarayana who handled municipal administration earlier has been given the education portfolio. Education minister Adimulapu Suresh who oversaw the Nadu Nedu programme will handle municipal administration and urban development.
The Chief Minister retained five Deputy CMs but dropped three from the previous team. The new Deputy CMs are Kottu Satyanarayana, Budi Muthyala Naidu and Narayana Swamy, apart from Amzath Basha and P. Rajanna Dora who retain the post.
Ambati Rambabu was the first to take oath. Adimulapu Suresh, Usha Sricharan and Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy took their oath in English while all others completed the formalities in Telugu. There were loud cheers by supporters of the ministers when their names were called for swearing-in.
Eleven of those who took oath have been part of the June 2019 Cabinet — Satyanarayana, Ramachandra Reddy, K. Narayana Swamy, Buggana Rajendranath, Gummanooru Jayaram, Seediri Appalaraju, Pinipe Vishwaroop, Chelluboina Venugopalakrishna, Taneti Vanitha, Amzath Basha and Adimalupu Suresh.
The 14 new ministers are Dharmana Prasada Rao, P. Rajanna Dora, Gudivada Amarnath, Buddi Muthyala Naidu, Dadisetti Raja, Karumuri Nageswara Rao, Kottu Satyanarayana, Jogi Ramesh, Ambati Rambabu, Meruga Nagarjuna, Vidadala Rajini, Kakani Govardhan Reddy, Roja K. Selvamani and Usha Sricharan.
After taking oath, Amarnath and Ramesh knelt down before Jagan Mohan Reddy to thank him. Actor-politician R.K. Roja and first-time woman ministers Vidadala Rajini and Usha Sricharan touched the Chief Minister's feet. Roja kissed the CM’s hand.
Out of the 25 ministers, 17 are from the weaker sections — five from the SC community, one from STs and 11 belong to the Backward Class groups. While the number of ministers from the SC and ST groups were unchanged from the previous Cabinet, there are four more ministers from the BC communities.
Deputy Chief Minister Amzath Basha remained the sole representative from the minority communities.
The representation of other castes (OCs) has come down to eight from 11 earlier. The number of woman ministers has also gone up to four from three.
Out of the five Deputy CMs, one each is from the SC, ST, BC and minority communities. The home minister, Taneti Vanita, belongs to the SC community, just like her predecessor Mekathoti Sucharita.
