TG Cabinet expansion on cards. Seniors to be stripped of overweight in reshuffle

The political landscape of Telangana has witnessed dramatic changes ever since the State got the first Congress government after a wait of ten long years. The State Formation Day celebrations would mark the culmination of the first six months of the new regime under the leadership of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka.

The performance of the government as a whole is up for a first serious review by the Congress leadership which has pinned all its hopes on Telangana as the legitimate giver of its statehood. The immediate task on hand for the Congress leadership is a possible cabinet expansion, giving representation to the sections that are still left out with a sense of alienation. The Congress owed a great deal to the minority communities, which extended rock solid support to the party in recent polls.

The party high command is increasingly feeling the need to induct a minority leader into the cabinet of A Revanth Reddy. There could possibly be a cabinet reshuffle immediately after the results of the parliamentary polls are announced. While some districts have drawn a blank in realising their genuine entitlement to cabinet berths, districts like Khammam, which had of course played the anchor role in giving the Congress Party an emphatic win, garnered more than its due.

Revanth is doing tight rope walking, with the majority of his cabinet colleagues being seniors with vast political experience. His leadership, which has given the Congress Party a potential voice to snub the opposition on many counts, had little impact on his cabinet colleagues. The Congress party is well aware of the fact that some senior ministers are not happy with the portfolios they have been entrusted with. This has cast a shadow on the performance of the departments concerned, with a cascading effect on the overall rating of the government.

The Congress high command is expected to strip such ministers of portfolios to which they are not able to do the required justice. In fact, the state cabinet is a blend of diverse combinations, bringing together leaders from various castes, including Dalits, Adivasis, BCs, Kammas, Brahmins and Reddies. Leaders of all hues joined hands, of course, because of their political compulsions to wrest away power from K Chandrashekhar Rao, BRS chief.

It may be too early to judge the rare show of unity the Congress leaders demonstrated in the run up to both assembly and parliamentary polls. Their moves seem to be guided by the spirit of Henry Ford’s quote – “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.”