Andhra Pradesh   

Rajasekhara Reddy to induct 17 more into Cabinet

Special Correspondent

Deputy Speaker, Deputy Chairman named

HYDERABAD: For the first time in his 35 months in office, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy will be expanding his Cabinet on Thursday by inducting 17 MLAs into the Council of Ministers.

The swearing-in ceremony of these MLAs, mostly his loyalists, will be held at 7.45 a.m. on the Raj Bhavan lawns.

Dr. Reddy submitted the list of prospective Ministers to Governor Rameshwar Thakur immediately on the latter's arrival here from Bhubaneshwar on Wednesday evening. The Chief Minister is unlikely to drop any of his 23 Cabinet colleagues from the Ministry, a point amply emphasised by the Congress high command. .

After the expansion, the strength of the Council of Ministers will rise to 41, leaving room for Dr. Reddy to induct more legislators later.

Several party veterans aspiring for a berth have been kept out. Dr. Reddy has sought to pacify a few of them by constituting four Regional Development Boards and appointing them Chairman. They are V. Purusthottam Reddy (Telangana), Gade Venkata Reddy (Coastal Andhra), P. Sambasiva Raju (North Coastal Andhra) and G. Muddukrishnama Naidu (Rayalaseema).

The MLAs who are being sworn-in on Thursday are: Pilli Subashchandra Bose (East Godavari district), Maganti Venkateshwara Rao (West Godavari), Mandali Buddha Prasad (Krishna), Kasu Venkatakrishna Reddy, M. Venkata Ramana Rao and M. Hanumantha Rao (all Guntur), Anam Ramnarayan Reddy (Nellore), R. Chenga Reddy and Galla Aruna (both Chittoor), G. Chinna Reddy (Mahabubnagar), M. Mukesh Goud (Hyderabad), R. Damodar Reddy (Nalgonda), T. Jeevan Reddy and J. Ratnakar Rao (both Karimnagar), Vanama Venkateshwar Rao and Sambhani Chandrasekhar (both Khammam) and Damodar Raja Narasimha (Medak).

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