Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy on Sunday, 10 April, reconstituted his cabinet which had been dissolved earlier in the week, by retaining 11 ministers from his previous cabinet.
The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led State Cabinet had been dissolved on Thursday, 7 April, ahead of the expected reshuffle.
In the freshly revamped cabinet, of the 25 cabinet members,17 are from ST ,SC, BC and Minority communities, a press release from the Chief Minister's Office said on Sunday.
The Composition
According to the release, in 2019, when CM Jagan formed his cabinet, of 25 ministers, 56 percent of them were from the SC, ST, OBC and minority sections of the society.
This time around, their representation in the cabinet has been increased to 68 percent. In the previous cabinet, there were 5 SCs, 1 ST, 7 OBCs, 1 minority, and 11 MLAs from Other castes. This time, the representation has been increased by 17 – 11 BCs, 5 SCs, 1 ST and 8 OCs.
The women representation in the cabinet has been increased to four, compared to previous cabinet of three, with the aim of empowering women MLAs and also ensuring equal representation, the CMO said.
Oath-Taking on Monday
According to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister's Office, the ministers who have resigned will either be given a district in-charge or a position in the party.
Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan will administer the oath to the new ministers at the Secretariat at 11.30 am on Monday.
After constituting his first Cabinet in June 2019, Jagan had made it clear that after the half-term there would be a new Cabinet. The outgoing ministers will be entrusted with the task of working for the party to bring it back to power, he had added. The process, however, has been delayed by few months.
The reshuffle is being viewed as Reddy's way to strengthen the party's organisational structure two years before the state goes to the polls.
The party had won a thumping majority in the 2019 Assembly election, winning 151 seats in the 175-member House.
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