Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is the third chief minister in Andhra Pradesh to get all the ministers to give their resignations at one go. He got all his 24 ministers to submit their resignations on Thursday as expected. He is scheduled to have his new cabinet on April 11.

Earlier, in the undivided Andhra Pradesh, it was then chief minister Tanguturi Anjaiah, who had asked his ministers to submit their resignations. He had faced criticism of having a jumbo cabinet with 58 ministers in the cabinet, besides the chief minister. He took the resignations of all the ministers and reconstituted his cabinet after two days with a considerably low number, which was around 45.

Later, N T Rama Rao constituted his second cabinet between 1985-89 with 63 ministers. However, N T Rama Rao was the second chief minister who got all his cabinet ministers resigned. He took the decision following the leakage of the budget highlights.

NTR was active in the national politics in those days and the party legislators did not protest as he did so. They have seen his anger and the popularity among the people particularly after his first finance minister Nadendla Bhaskara Rao raised a banner of revolt in August 1984.

Jagan Mohan Reddy, thus is the third chief minister to get the resignations of all his cabinet ministers. This would give him free hand to constitute a new cabinet, in which some old faces are also expected to be accommodated.

While the first two incidents happened without prior notice, the third development was anticipated and overdue. Jagan Mohan Reddy had said that he would drop all the ministers and have a new cabinet with fresh faces after the first half of his term. Accordingly, he got his ministers to resign on Thursday.