Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy returned to the city on Saturday after a six-day visit to Delhi, the duration of the visit triggering speculation in party circles that he was likely to undertake a partial expansion of his Cabinet in the first week of July. The buzz in Congress circles is that he would fill four of the six vacancies in his Cabinet.
Party sources said that the party high command permitted Reddy to undertake partial expansion of the cabinet in the first week of July and assured him that it would find his replacement as TPCC chief (Reddy’s term ends on July 7) by around that time.
Sources said that the high command has decided to keep two cabinet berths vacant to accommodate leaders from GHMC limits where the party failed to win a single Assembly seat. Although, Reddy had on Friday said that party high command has decided to consider only those MLAs for cabinet berths who won on Congress tickets, it is widely believed in party circles that this rule was exempted for GHMC limits.
The Congress party has to invariably depend on main opposition BRS MLAs in GHMC limits who are expected to join Congress in the next few days. For that reason, the party high command has asked Reddy to keep two cabinet berths vacant, sources added.
For TPCC chief post, party working president and MLC B. Mahesh Kumar Goud, Zahirabad Lok Sabha member Suresh Shetkar, Madhu Yashki Goud from
Backward Classes, Mahabubabad Lok Sabha member P. Balram Naik (ST) and former MLA S.A. Sampath Kumar (SC) are in the race.
For cabinet berths, Makthal MLA Vakiti Srihari from BC Mudiraj community, Khanapur MLA Vedma Bojju (ST), Peddapalli MLA G. Vivekanand, Dharmapuri MLA Adluri Laxman Kumar (SC), Bodhan MLA P. Sudarshan Reddy, Mancherial MLA K. Prem Sagar Rao, Munugode MLA Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy, Ibrahimpatnam MLA Malreddy Ranga Reddy and Parigi MLA T. Ram Mohan Reddy are in the race.
The Chief Minister along with Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy had a series of meetings with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party organisation secretary K.C. Venugopal in Delhi and discussed cabinet expansion, appointment of new TPCC chief and filling up of nominated posts in the government.
