The entire cabinet of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has resigned today in a prelude to a mega overhaul just over halfway through his term in office, ahead of the 2024 state elections.
Twenty-four ministers resigned after a cabinet meeting, in the first step towards the big takeover.
Jagan Reddy, the only cabinet member to remain in office, received the resignation.
The makeover was widely anticipated as Jagan Reddy had said he would be going for an entirely new team midway through his term. The refurbishment was scheduled for December but had to be postponed due to Covid.
Only one or two ministers from the outgoing team are likely to be retained, sources say. These ministers are not abolished, as they are the only members belonging to politically vital communities to be represented.
The new cabinet will likely have representation from each of the state’s newly formed 26 districts. Caste, region, religion and gender will be considered, as in June 2019 when Jagan Reddy took over as Chief Minister.
Mr. Reddy had five Deputy Chief Ministers, each one from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes, Kapu Caste and the Muslim Minority Community. There were three women in the cabinet. The Minister of the Interior was M. Sucharita, a woman from the Dalit community. This structure is likely to be repeated.
The outgoing ministers are likely to get party roles; sources say that given their record as ministers and their relationship with the public, they would be useful for coordination.
This is the second time in Andhra Pradesh’s history that an entire cabinet has resigned halfway through.
In 2019, shortly after his huge victory in the Andhra Pradesh elections, Mr Reddy had said he would select a new team mid-term as part of his strategy for 2024. The idea was to give everyone a chance and also all to defeat anti-establishment leaders. against any MLA who has served as minister.