Profile of Ministers inducted into Andhra Pradesh Cabinet
0 commentsK Rosaiah: Seventysix-year-old senior Congress leader and eldest member of the Rajasekhara Reddy cabinet has enormous political and ministerial experience.
A member of the Legislative Council, Rosaiah began his political career in 1968 and got elected to the Upper House. A native of Vemugu in Guntur district, he graduated from the Hindu College affiliated to the Andhra University.
He has handled key ministries of Finance, Legislative Affairs, Power, Home, among other ministries and had served as Minister under several Chief Ministers in the past, including M Channa Reddy, T Anjaiah, K Vijayabhaskara Reddy, and N Janardhan Reddy.
Ponnala Laksmaiah: Sixtyfive-year-old Lakshmaiah is an engineering graduate from US, has handled the key Major Irrigation department since 2004 and put into action the irrigation initiative ’’Jalayagnam’’ of the previous Rajasekhara Reddy
Government.
He has also served as Minister for a brief period in 1991-92.
Kanna Lakshminarayana: Hailing from a political family of the Pedakurapadu in Guntur district, 52-year-old Congress leader
was elected to the State Assembly for the fifth term, in the just-concluded election from Guntur(West) Assembly constituency.
He served as Transport Minister in the previous Cabinet. N Raghuveera Reddy: A Lieutenant of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy hails from Neelakantapuram in Madakasira mandal of Anantapur district. He has put into action pro-peasant policies of the Rajasekhara Reddy Government since 2004.
Dharmana Prasada Rao: A native of Mabagam in Srikakulam district, the 52-year-old Congress leader began his political career as a Sarpanch. Responsible for implementing the Congress Government’s land distribution policy, he was lone Congress candidate to get elected from the district in 1999 when the TDP retained power. He has served as Minister in the past in the Governments headed by Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy and N Janardhan Reddy.
Guntur takes lion's share in state cabinet
0 commentsminister posts -- yet again.
YSR's team has five cabinet ministers (MLC K Rosaiah belongs to Guntur district) and both the deputy speaker of the assembly and deputy chairman of the legislative council hailing from Guntur. While Kapu satrap Kanna Lakshminarayana and lone fisherman legislator Mopidevi Venkata Ramana have been retained, the ideologue of MRPS movement Dokka Manikya Varaprasad and senior MLA Gade Venkata Reddy have been rewarded in the new cabinet.
With the retention of senior minister Rosaiah, who represented Chirala in Prakasam district in the previous cabinet, Guntur's tally has gone up to five cabinet ministers - the highest from any district in the state -- from the previous four berths.
While Nadendla Manohar was made the deputy speaker of the assembly, a post that enjoys the cabinet rank, veteran leader Mohammed Jani is the deputy chairman of the legislative council, which is also equivalent to a cabinet minister post.
Kanna's choice was a forgone conclusion when he got elected to the assembly for the fifth consecutive time, while Ramana, the ports minister in the previous cabinet, got the opportunity due to caste equations as he is the lone fisherman legislator who was elected to the assembly. "In fact, Ramana's blind support to push Vanpic and Coastal Corridor projects even at the cost of displacement of a large number of fishermen has helped him get the berth in the cabinet," a party insider said. It may be recalled both the mega projects are being executed by those close to CM's son Jaganmohan Reddy.
While Murugudu Hanumantha Rao, a minister in the last cabinet, was denied ticket to contest the election, the surprise omission was Kasu Krishna Reddy, a close follower of chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. Sources said Gade's oratory skills and his strong opposition to the separation of state have helped him earn a cabinet berth after a long gap.
Gade, an expert in legal and legislative matters, had served as excise minister in the Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy ministry. Another new face in the cabinet, Varaprasad, is the only Madiga legislator to have been elected to the assembly from the coastal region. He replaces Koneru Ranga Rao of Krishna district to fill the community quota.
Meanwhile, Manohar, a strong aspirant for the cabinet berth from Kamma quota, had to contend with the deputy speaker post. Manohar, a two-time legislator, is a staunch follower of PCC chief D Srinivas.
Curiously, Guntur already has the distinction of sending the highest number of public representatives in the legislative houses -- 17 MLAs, seven MLCs, three MPs and one Rajya Sabha member -- in the state.
KCR's move to check rebellion in the party
0 commentsAll party legislators and leaders have been instructed to attend the meeting and express their views on the recent poll results, sources said.
According to the sources, the state executive members have been asked to submit reports on the perfomance of the party in the elections in their respective assembly and parliamentary constituencies. A study is being conducted by comparing both the reports submitted by contestants and executive members which will help the party to set right things that went wrong in the election leading to defeat of the TRS candidates in many seats.
The main reason for holding the meeting, however, is to arrest the rising rebellion within the party, the sources said. Rebel leaders -- K Dilip Kumar, D Ravindra Naik and A Chandrasekhar - who have already held a meeting to plot a new outfit, are not expected to attend the meeting.
TRS floor leader E Rajender told TOI that KCR was holding meetings with all important leaders since the last week. The objective of the series of meetings was to prepare a plan of action to strengthen the party and revive the Telangana movement from the grossroot level. KCR has instructed all executive memebers to inform him details of those TRS leaders who are unhappy with the way the party is functioning and eagar to join the rebel group who are planning to float a new party - Telangana Vimochana Samithi (TVS) on May 31.
Meanwhile, Jitta Balakrishna Reddy who contested as TRS rebel from Bhuvanagiri assembly constituency and later suspended from the party, found himself back in the TRS fold as the party revoked his supension on Monday.
In another fresh development, the rebel leaders claimed that TRS ideologue and irrigation expert R Vidyasagar Rao has agreed to support the movement being launched by the TVS in the future
YSR battles volatile mix
0 commentsThe Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, is doing a tricky balancing act, juggling between experienced hands and newcomers and working out caste combinations in his new cabinet which will be sworn in at 6 pm on Monday.
Dr Reddy, accompanied by his friend and MP, Dr K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, left for Delhi for the fourth time in a week to get the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s approval for the list of ministers. Before he meets Mrs Gandhi at noon on Sunday, Dr Reddy will meet Mr Veerappa Moily, the party’s AP incharge.
Mr Moily, who was who was sworn-in as Union minister on Friday, added to Dr Reddy’s problems by suggesting on Friday that he should include Mr D. Srinivas in his team. Mr Srinivas lost his own election but led the Congress to victory in the state.
Sources said Dr Reddy did not comment on Mr Moily’s idea and left it to Mrs Gandhi to decide. Dr Reddy initially intended to form a 25- to 30-strong ministry, taking in both young and experienced MLAs. Dr Reddy may not take back all the 18 outgoing ministers — the G-18 — in light of the new realities in the districts they represent.
Defeated ministers in the proposed
0 commentsThe Congress Party feels that giving a chance to some of the former ministers who have lost in the recent elections would be like opening a pandora box. As many as 14 ministers have lost in 2009 polls.
According to sources, defeated ministers may not find place in the State Cabinet. However, there is scope for inclusion of some of them particularly those hailing from Telangana region in the next expansion expected to take place after two years.
``Rajasekhara Reddy is not ready to take his former colleagues (defeated ministers) into the Cabinet immediately. Persons like T Jeevan Reddy, G Chinna Reddy and former Assembly Speaker KR Suresh Reddy may be taken into the Cabinet after getting them elected in the next Council elections (to take place in another two years),’’ sources said.
YSR cabinet has 20 new faces first term
0 commentsAfter waiting for two days in the national capital, Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy finally got Madam Sonia Gandhi’s approval for the list of ministers in his cabinet and returned to Hyderabad.
According to the list, there will be 35 ministers in the YSR cabinet, which includes 20 new faces. They are: Pasupuleti Balaraju (Vizag), P Vishawarup (East Godavari), P Satyanarayana and Vatti Vasanth Kumar (West Godavari), Parthasarathy (Krishna), Gade Venkat Reddy, D Manikya Vara Prasad (Guntur), B Srinivasa Reddy (Prakasam), R Venkat Reddy (Khammam), Sunitha Lakshma Reddy (Medak), Sudershan Reddy (Nizamabad), P Ramachandra Reddy (Chittoor), Shila Mohan Reddy (Kurnool), Ahmedulla (Kadapa), D K Aruna, J Krishna Rao (Mahbubnagar), Danam Nagender (Hyderabad), Konda Surekha (Warangal), D Sridhar Babu (Karimnagar) and K Venkat Reddy (Nalgonda).
Of them, only Gade Venkat Reddy held the ministry in the erstwhile Congress regimes and all the others are fresh faces. So, it is a good opportunity to the new comers to prove themselves!
No change in stand on Telangana:YSR
0 commentsDr. Reddy reiterated his remarks that there was no change in his stand on the issue and that was made very clear through a statement in the Assembly earlier this year. “The Congress had never said that it was opposed to Telangana,” he said at a ‘Meet the Press’ programme organised by the AP Union of Working Journalists here on Thursday. “There is no second opinion about Telangana. What I had said was while carving out a new State, the issues concerning the other regions should also be studied,” he added.
The Chief Minister, during the second phase election campaign, had expressed serious reservations on creation of Telangana stating that if a separate State was created under the Grand Alliance regime, the people of Andhra and Rayalaseema would be forced to obtain visas to enter Hyderabad. Dr. Reddy to persistent queries whether the 2009 election results had sealed the fate of statehood said that sentiment was still there. Asked further if the verdict has given a solution to the issue, Dr.Reddy pointed out that the elections were not fought on this one issue. Nevertheless, he said people had chosen the Congress party in the region where it won 50 Assembly and 12 Lok Sabha seats.
To a question whether Telangana was an issue or created by the leaders, he observed that he had repeatedly asked people whether Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) would have been formed if K. Chandrasekhar Rao was inducted into the Cabinet by then Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in 1999.
To another question, Dr. Reddy said the performance of the Congress party in the region only showed that there was a leadership crisis in the TRS. When queried whether his group would continue to dominate the political scene in the party, Dr. Reddy shot back saying that there was only one group which was the Sonia and Congress group. He promised to reward the services of the party cadres. He also clarified that there was no need for a Deputy Chief Minister from the Telangana region.
Local issues to blame
Asked about the debacle of several Ministers, he said local issues had contributed to their defeat.
On whether the government was contemplating seeking ‘national project’ status for Pranahita-Chevella and Polavaram projects, he said work on that line was already on.