Andhra Pradesh   

No Cabinet expansion now, says Rajasekhara Reddy

Special Correspondent

"Modalities for revival of the Legislative Council being finalised"

NEW DELHI: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy on Tuesday said there was still time for him to expand his Council of Ministers and that the rules and modalities for setting up the State Legislative Council were still being formulated.

"There is still time for expansion and I will let you know... '' Dr. Reddy said at a press conference in response to a question whether he was planning to expand the State Cabinet. The Chief Minister also sought to draw a distance from the current controversy over lack of representation to backward communities in the recent expansion carried out by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Asked about his views on the issue in the wake of criticism by senior leaders from the State, the Chief Minister said when a Government was formed in a State, consideration would be given to have representation from various communities with State as the unit and in the case of the Centre with the country as the unit. The Chief Minister was of the opinion that one could not argue that different communities in the State had not found representation in the Union Council of Ministers since an overall balance taking the country as a whole was the objective.

He said the media should not read too much into the expansion and reports comparing inclusion of representatives from other States, including Maharashtra.

As regards the April biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha, the Chief Minister said as per an understanding arrived at two years ago, one of the seats would be given to the Communist Party of India. During the day, Dr. Reddy met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and briefed her about the developmental projects in the State and affairs of the party. He said he urged the Central leadership to take a view on categorisation of scheduled castes reservation into A, B., C, D for Mala, Madiga and others, which was struck down by courts. The Chief Minister also met Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz and Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran. With Mr. Maran, the State took up the proposal to give funds for setting up FAB cities and wanted that the policy decision be expedited, the Chief Minister said.

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