Andhra Cabinet reconstituted, one veteran among 25 Mins sworn-in

Amaravati: Apparently giving in to pressure from seniors in the party and relying heavily on caste calculations, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday reconstituted the state Cabinet, re-inducting 11 from his first team and taking in 13 freshers, besides a veteran.

Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan administered the oath of office and secrecy to 25 members of the Cabinet at a public function near the state Secretariat in capital

city Amaravati.

On expected lines, nobody from the Legislative Council was taken into the Cabinet.

The fresh Council of Ministers has been constituted solely on caste and community lines, with the lion's share of 10 berths going to backward classes.

Two, including the Chief Minister, are from the minority communities, five from the Scheduled Castes and one from the Scheduled Tribes. Four each from the Reddy and the Kapu communities have also been inducted. The Cabinet has four women members, one up from the previous.

Kamma, Kshatriya and Vysya communities that had one representative each in the previous Cabinet were now completely left out. Brahmin community was denied a

Cabinet berth yet again.

Of the total 26 districts in the state, at least seven did not find any representation in the new Cabinet. The ruling YSR Congress described it as the "Social Cabinet", with 70 per cent representation to the BC, SC, ST and minority communities.

When he formed his first Cabinet in June 2019, the Chief Minister had announced that he would undertake a revamp after two and a half years (December 2021) and bring-in 90 per cent new faces, retaining only ten per cent (3 members).

By that count, only two ministers, apart from the Chief Minister, were to be retained but Jagan Mohan Reddy has apparently clearly buckled under pressure and brought back 11 from the previous Cabinet, who were made to resign on April 7. Amzath Basha Shaik Bepari and K Narayana Swamy, who served as Deputy Chief Ministers in the previous Cabinet, have been re-inducted.