The Hindu : Front Page : Cabinet expansion to be put off again

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Thursday, Jan 11, 2007
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Cabinet expansion to be put off again

Special Correspondent

Constitution of the Legislative Council to cause further delay

HYDERABAD: Congress MLAs in the race for Cabinet berths are in for disappointment once again. The long-awaited Cabinet expansion may not, after all, be undertaken before the forthcoming budget session of the Assembly.

This time Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who has been repeatedly postponing the expansion, has a new reason to do so-- impending constitution of the Legislative Council-- which also must be represented in the Cabinet.

The talk about expansion has been making rounds ever since six MLAs of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) resigned from the Council of Ministers in August, 2005. Dr. Reddy preferred to postpone the expansion citing the civic elections then.

The hopefuls then thought it could be a festival bonanza but two Dasaras and two Deepavalis have passed by and so did two Christmas and New Year seasons but all these brought little cheer to them.

When the issue cropped up in the recent two-day `Medho Madhanam' of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), the Chief Minister assured them that he would indeed do it at the earliest.

This time around sources close to the Chief Minister indicate that expansion will certainly be a new year gift. Only, it would be a Telugu New Year gift. Dr. Rajasekhara Reddy has also no plans to undertake a reshuffle in the Chief Minister's office, sources said.

Delhi visit

The Chief Minister left for New Delhi on Wednesday evening to impress upon the Centre the need to allocate more power to help the State tide over the crisis. He told reporters that he would plead for an additional 800 MW. He said 300 MW of this could be drawn from the Southern Grid and the rest from other sources.

Bargain for gas

Dr. Reddy said he would also bargain for supply of gas from all gas fields in the State at lower price than the market rates. "We know it is a market- driven economy and agencies would like to quote what they think is justified. But, we will apply pressure to suit our needs," he said.

He said his Delhi visit was primarily to thank Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and AICC president Sonia Gandhi for sanctioning an IIT to the State.

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