State Cabinet expansion put off, again

The Congress high command on Friday gave clear indications that the expansion or reshuffle of State Cabinet might not happen soon.

Talking to media persons after emerging out of talks with Congress president Sonia Gandhi here on Friday, Congress In-charge of State Affairs and Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad stated that cabinet expansion might not happen soon. He informed that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her political secretary Ahmed Patel discussed latest political situation in Andhra Pradesh with Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy during their meeting. However, he said that the Cabinet reshuffle or expansion did not figure in the talks.

According to sources, the Congress high command has advised the Chief Minister to wait for some more time to expand his Cabinet. He was reportedly advised to focus on the possible by-elections in 24 seats, of which 16 are likely to fall vacant due to the likely disqualification of Congress MLAs who defected to YSR Congress party.