Back to the Kamaraj Plan
The Hindu
There are opportunities and challenges in the YSRCP government’s plan to reshuffle the Cabinet
The imminent ‘Kamaraj Plan’ in Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) could serve as an opportunity as well as a challenge for the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government. After the formation of the Cabinet in 2019, A.P. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy announced that the entire Cabinet should be prepared to resign and go back to their constituencies to strengthen the party half-way through the five-year term.
In 1963, the Chief Minister of the then Madras State, K. Kamaraj, suggested to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru that all senior Congress ministers should resign and take up party work to revitalise the Congress. This was immediately accepted and implemented by Nehru.
Sources in the government confirm that the reshuffle is under way and Mr. Reddy is in the process of giving it shape. Consultations with party seniors and leaders are going on and a final list may get the nod shortly, according to a senior government functionary who is in frequent touch with the Chief Minister’s Office. “Initially, the plan was to replace 90% of the ministers. Later, it was decided that there would be a full reshuffle,” the functionary said under the condition of anonymity. The Energy Minister, Balineni Srinivasa Reddy, while speaking to reporters recently, also confirmed that the entire Cabinet would be replaced. The shuffle was expected to take place by October 15, but now it is being planned for January 14, 2022.