KCR may expand Cabinet

Hyderabad: Once the zilla parishad chairperson elections are held on June 8, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is likely to expand the Cabinet. Mr Rao had told party MLAs that he would expand the Cabinet after the Lok Sabha elections. Mr Rao can induct six more ministers to the Cabinet.

According to sources, in the changed political circumstances, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao and former minister T. Harish Rao will be given Cabinet berths. Former MP Gutta Sukhender Reddy, who was promised a post by Mr Rao, may also make it to the Cabinet.

Mr Rao had announced during the Assembly session that he would select two women ministers. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) sources said MLC Satyavathi Rathod may get a chance. The name of defector Congress MLA Sabitha Indra Reddy was under consideration as the majority the party secured in her Maheswaram Assembly seat proved crucial for the TRS in winning Chevella Lok Sabha seat.

If for some reason Ms Indra Reddy does not make it, Aler Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Gongadi Sunitha will get a chance. She was government whip in the previous Assembly, and Mr Rao had promised during the campaign that she would get a promotion.

Sources said that ministers would not be dropped on the basis of their performance in the Lok Sabha elections. The process of inducting defected Congress MLAs into the TRS Legislature Party will be completed before the Cabinet expansion. After that Mr Rao will concentrate on the state budget. The government had presented a vote on account budget earlier in view of the general elections.