Eight A.P. Ministers dropped, 11 inducted

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, NOV. 26. In a major reshuffle of his Cabinet, the Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, jettisoned eight junior Ministers and inducted 11 others, all but two having served in his or NT Rama Rao's Cabinet in the past.

The Governor, Dr. C. Rangarajan, administered the oath at a simple swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan here on Monday. Mr. Chandrababu Naidu described his team as a ``functional, balanced and effective Cabinet.''

The size of the Ministry went up from 36 to 39, but representation to women was down by half from 6 to 3. The portfolios kept changing on and off until they were finalised in the evening. Most senior Ministers retained their old portfolios, barring Messrs. T. Nageswara Rao, M. Venkateswara Rao, N. Janardhan Reddy, T. Seetaram and K. Vijayarama Rao.

The reshuffle saw the return of two seniors - Dr. K. Siva Prasada Rao and Mr. B. Gopalakrishna Reddy - both given Cabinet status. Others inducted are| Messrs S. Chandramohan Reddy (Nellore dt), J. R. Pushparaj (Guntur dt), P. Ramasubba Reddy (Cuddapah) and T. Srinivas Yadav (Secunderabad), all Cabinet Ministers; D. Anjaneyulu (Prakasam), M. Damoder Reddy, S. Devaiah (both Karimnagar), P. Narayanaswami (Vizianagaram) and P. Ramulu (Mahbubnagar), Ministers of State. The last two are `first-time' Ministers.

The eight Ministers dropped are Messrs S. Aruna, J. Lakshmi Padmavathy, K. Pushpaleela, A. Rajendra Prasad, A. Prabhakar Reddy, E. Peddi Reddy, C. Krishna Yadav and N. Siva Prasad.

Today's recast was the result of a four-day tortuous exercise that continued till the wee hours of Monday at the Chief Minister's residence. Mr. Chandramohan Reddy's was a surprise last minute choice as was the replacement of Mr. Krishna Yadav by Mr. T. Srinivas Yadav. Mrs. Padmavathy was edged out after her lobby put up a brave resistance, but almost all the MLAs from Prakasam district were stridently opposed to her continuance.

The new team was generally welcomed but for some voices of dissent. Mr. E. Dayakar Rao, a strong contender from Warangal, was stated to be `terribly upset.' Also disappointed are Mr. S. V. Subba Reddy and his daughter, Mrs. B. Sobha Nagi Reddy, from Kurnool. The latter was favoured to join the Cabinet.

Dr. N. Siva Prasad, a Naidu staunch loyalist, was reportedly so anguished by the marching orders that he vacated his official residence by noon and shipped off his luggage to Tirupati.

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Section  : Southern States
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