Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, keeping his promise made in June 2019, of revamping his cabinet halfway through his tenure, has reconstituted it. 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 Jagan-led govt is unheard of in Andhra Pradesh history and the same continues in this cabinet as well. In 2019, when CM Jagan formed his cabinet, of 25 ministers, 56% of them were from the SC, ST, OBC and minority sections of the society. Keeping the same motto of fair social representation, the CM has increased their representation in the cabinet to 68%. In the previous cabinet, there were 5 SCs, 1 ST, 7 OBCs, 1 minority, and 11 Other castes MLAs as ministers. This time, the representation has been increased by 17 – 11 BCs, 5 SCs, 1 ST and 8 OCs.
Out of the 10 ministers retained from the previous cabinet, 3 from SC, 5 from BC and 2 from OC.
Meanwhile, during Chandrababu Naidu’s tenure in 2014, the OCs representation was 13 while the SCs, and BCs 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 CBN’s cabinet only four months prior to him completing his tenure. Comparing this with the Jagan’s new cabinet, there has been a 50% increase in the SC, ST, BC and minority representation in the cabinet.
In contrast, CM Jagan taking a landmark decision and proving his commitment, for the first time in the country, five 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 same principle was followed even for the nominated posts and works. Of the nominated posts and works, including the ZPPs, MPPs, AMCs, temple chairman, Municipal chairman, Mayors and Corporation chairman positions, CM Jagan reserved 50% of them for SCs, STs, BCs and minorities. CM Jagan has also ensured that the govt also passed an act that, out of the 50% representation for the SCs, STs, BCs and minorities, 50% reservation has been given to women, thus empowering them.
The women representation is also something the Chief Minister has always focused on and hence their representation has been increased to 4, compared to previous cabinet of 3. This way, the Chief Minister wants to empower women MLAs and also ensure equal representation in the cabinet.
The New Cabinet
Dharmana Prasada Rao- BC
Sidiri Appalaraju – BC
Botsa Satyanarayana – BC
P. Rajanna dora – ST
Gudivada Amarnath – OC
Buddi Muthyala Naidu – BC
Dadishetti Raja – OC
Pinipe Vishwaroopam – SC
Cheluboina venugopalakrishna – BC
Taneti Vanitha – SC
Karumuri Nageswararao – BC
Kottu Satyanarayana – OC
Jogi Ramesh – BC
Ambati Rambabu – OC
Meraga Nagarjuna – SC
Vidadala Rajini – BC
Kakani Govardhanreddy – OC
Amjad Basha – Muslim
Buggana Rajendranath – OC
Gummanooru Jayaram – BC
Peddireddy Ramachandrareddy – OC
Narayanaswamy – SC
Roja K. Selvamani – OC
Usha Sricharan – BC
Adimulapu Suresh – SC
