After coming to power for the second time, the TRS chief initially did not give cabinet berths to his son KT Rama Rao and nephew T Harish Rao. He reportedly dropped them amidst plans to play a bigger role at the national level and handing over the baton to his son KTR. However, after much dilly-dallying, the TRS chief had expanded the cabinet taking both KTR and Harish Rao, along with two other women leaders.
Party sources say that the third cabinet expansion will likely take place on the auspicious occasion of Dasara. As per reliable sources, the chief minister is unhappy with the performance of a few ministers. Also, KCR wants to take a leader from the twin cities into the cabinet in view of the upcoming GHMC elections. The groundwork for the expansion of the Council of Ministers has already been initiated by reviewing the performance of the ministers, the sources added.
Settlers from Andhra Pradesh play a deciding role in several divisions of GHMC. Considering this, leaders with origins in Andhra are being considered to be part of the expansion. Kukatpally MLA Madhavaram Krishna Rao’s name is making some noise at the TRS Head Office. Rao is a two time MLA with roots in Andhra. Including him in the cabinet might send a positive signal to the voters from AP, mostly those settled in Kukatpally, Malkajgiri and Secunderabad areas. Another name doing the rounds is Maganti Gopinath who represents Jubilee Hills. Belonging to the Kamma community, Gopinath is considered to be very close to KTR.
The TRS chief is keen to spoil the plans of the Congress and BJP and retain the GHMC. KCR opines that any momentum gained by the two opposition parties might give them optimism to launch aggressive campaigns in other districts as well.
Congress and BJP are reportedly mulling to woo the settlers by offering 50 per cent of the corporator tickets to garner their support.
Changes in ministries
KCR is reportedly doing an exercise to make changes in ministries. He is supposedly not satisfied with the performance of some ministers. This time, KCR had also held discussions with his son KTR on bringing in new faces and changing ministries.
KTR, who is also the working president of the TRS, is given a larger role in almost all the affairs of the government. He is seen visiting places where the chief minister is expected to visit and made to interact with people. In the third expansion, many leaders considered close to KTR are expected to find a place in the new cabinet.
It remains to be seen how supporters of KCR’s nephew and finance minister T Harish Rao will receive this news. It definitely seems like a bitter pill to swallow for them.
