Andhra Pradesh: YS Jagan Mohan Reddy revamps Cabinet, inducts fresh faces

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, keeping his promise made in June 2019 of revamping his cabinet halfway through his tenure, has reconstituted it. The newly formed cabinet has a mixture of senior and experienced leaders as well as fresh and young faces for balanced governance. While the seniors will bring in their expertise and experience on to the table, the young leaders will bring in fresh and innovative ideas and initiatives, thus aiding in people-oriented governance, ANI reported. The previous ministers, however, will be given responsibilities in the party so that they can make use of their experience to ensure the party’s victory in the upcoming assembly and general elections in 2024. The representation given to the SCs, STs, minorities, and Backward Classes by the state government is unheard of in Andhra Pradesh history and the same continues in this cabinet as well. In 2019, when Jagan Reddy formed his cabinet, of 24 Ministers, 56 per cent of them were from the SC, ST, OBC and minority sections of the society. Keeping the same motto of fair social representation, the chief minister has increased their representation in the cabinet to 68 per cent. In the previous cabinet, there were five SCs, one ST, seven OBCs, one minority, and 11 other castes MLAs as ministers. Out of the 11 ministers retained from the previous cabinet, four from SC, five from BC and two from Other Category (OC), official sources told ANI. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan on Sunday accepted the resignations of 24 cabinet ministers, a day before the Andhra Pradesh Assembly’s new cabinet members will be sworn in. An official press communique from the Governor’s office read, “On the advice of Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, the Governor has been pleased to accept the resignations tendered by 24 cabinet ministers with immediate effect.” The new Andhra Pradesh cabinet will be sworn in on Monday, a few days after all 24 ministers submitted their resignation to YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Meanwhile, during former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s tenure in 2014, the OCs representation was 13 while the SCs, and OBCs was 12. Out of the 12 given, there was no ministry given to leaders from the ST and minority communities. The same ratio was again maintained in 2017, when the cabinet was revamped again. The STs were included in Naidu’s cabinet only four months prior to him completing his tenure. Comparing this with Jagan’s new cabinet, there has been a 50 per cent increase in the SC, ST, BC and minority representation in the cabinet, the official sources said. In contrast, Jagan Reddy taking a landmark decision and proving his commitment, for the first time in the country, five Deputy Chief Ministers (DCMs) were appointed, out of which, four leaders from SC, ST, minority and BC were given a post each in 2019 and the same has continued in this cabinet. The women’s representation is also something the chief minister has always focused on and hence their representation has been increased to four, compared to the previous cabinet of three. This way, the chief minister wants to empower women MLAs and also ensure equal representation in the cabinet, sources said. The ministers resigned on Thursday ahead of the proposed reorganisation of the Council of Ministers. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had “happily” welcomed the resignation of his cabinet as the YSRCP chief, he claimed that as part of preparation for upcoming state elections in 2024, it is a welcome move. (With inputs from ANI) Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.