Jagan to retain five ministers, drop the rest

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is likely to retain five ministers in the cabinet and drop the remaining 20 ministers. If sources from the party are to be believed, the chief minister had made up his mind to retain the five ministers, though he had said that he would bring new faces.

Jagan Mohan Reddy had already indicated that he would drop some of his ministers and bring in new faces. He told the MLAs at the recent meeting that dropping from the cabinet does not mean insult to them. He said that they would be engaged in the party activities to prepare the rank and file for the 2024 general election.

As of now, the chief minister had cleared the names of Ministers Botsa Satyanarayana, Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy, Kodali Nani, Kurasala Kannababu and Seediri Appalaraju to be continued in the cabinet. The others would be given the party work in the district, while some of them would be made incharges of the party at the regional level. Jagan Mohan Reddy wants to constitute the regional committees with at least four to five districts as one region.

Botsa Satyanarayana was responsible for the party’s victory in Vizianagaram district in the 2019 general elections. The party had won all 10 Assembly constituencies in the district, with Botsa shouldering the responsibility.

Similarly, Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy is responsible for the party’s victory in Chittoor district, including the Kuppam Municipality early in 2021. He was able to defeat the TDP in the district in the local body elections and the defeat of the TDP in Kuppam was carefully engineered by Peddireddi.

Among others, Kodali Nani would be retained in the cabinet as he represents the dominant Kamma community, while Kurasala Kannababu is a potential Kapu leader to counter Pawan Kalyan in the 2024 elections, particularly in Godavari districts. Another minister Seediri Appalaraju was inducted into the cabinet recently and is doing well. He had earned a good name and won the confidence of the chief minister, sources said.