Andhra: Greenhorns dominate Naidu’s new Cabinet, seniors sidelined

As N Chandrababu Naidu takes charge as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for the fourth time, his choice of a relatively young Cabinet has raised some eyebrows. Most members of his 24-member Cabinet are aged below 50, while eight of them are first-time MLAs. Many see the clear stamp of his son Nara Lokesh on the selection of ministers.

The experienced lot

While the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief himself is 74 years old, the only Cabinet minister who falls in his age group is Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, who migrated to the TDP from YSR Congress Party in 2023 following his differences with then Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. He is 72.

Ponguru Narayana is 66, while 58-year-old Payyavula Keshave is the next senior minister.

All other ministers are in the age group of the 41-year-old Lokesh, who is being seen by many as the de-facto chief minister. “This looks like an arrangement to avoid any problem for Lokesh in dealing with fellow ministers,” said a TDP leader who did not wish to be named.

Seniors who got sidelined

While the infusion of young blood has been appreciated, what has ruffled several feathers is the short shrift given to party veterans such as Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary, Kimidi Kalavenkata Rao, Chintakayala Ayyanna Patrudu, Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy, Kalva Srinivausulu, Kanna Lakshminarayana, and Ganta Srinivas Rao.

Seven-term MLA Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary, for instance, has been serving the party since its inception in 1982. Even in 2019, when the party was washed away by the YS Jaganmohan Reddy wave, Chowdary won the Rajahmundry Rural seat by a comfortable margin of 60,000 votes.

Similarly, Patrudu is also a seven-term MLA from North Andhra, while Kimidi Kalavenkata Rao is a six-term MLA. Rao was the president of the party’s Andhra unit after the state’s bifurcation in 2014.

A senior party leader wondered how Naidu could ignore the proven loyalty and talent of so many seniors. “Encouraging young blood is fine, but senior leaders with proven talent could have brought maturity to governance,” said the leader, who did not want to be named.

Host of greenhorns

However, there is widespread jubilation in the party, as the Cabinet evidently has the stamp of Lokesh, who is a first-time MLA himself. In his maiden election in 2019, he was defeated in Mangalagiri by YSRCP veteran Alla Ramakrishna Reddy. He served as an MLC from 2017 to 2023.

Along with him, the other freshers who took oath in the gala ceremony attended by about 3 lakh people on June 12 included Mandipalli Ramprasad Reddy, Vasamsetty Subhash, TG Bharat, S Savitha, Kondapalli Srinivas, and Gummadi Sandhya Rani.

MLAs such as Payyavula Kesav, Anagani Satyaprasad, Nimmala Ramanaidu, Vangalapudi Anitha, Dola Balaveeranjaneya Swamy, Gottipati Ravi Kumar, and BC Janardhan Reddy, though elected to the House earlier, are making it to the Cabinet for the first time.

Generational shift?

Party secretary Somisetty Venkateswarlu termed it a “generational shift”. “It’s welcome that young MLAs with higher educational qualifications are being given an opportunity to serve the state. They will be in tune with the times and can make quick decisions,” he said, adding that senior party MLAs would be accommodated in suitable positions.

Party insiders believe one of the three most senior leaders — Butchaiah Chowdary, Kalavenkata Rao, or Ayyanna Patrudu — will be chosen as the Assembly Speaker.

The BJP’s lone minister in the Cabinet, Satyakumar Yadav, is also a first-timer. From Jana Sena, party chief Pawan Kalyan and Kandula Durgesh are both freshers. The third member, Nadendla Manohar, who functioned as the 18th Speaker of the united Andhra Pradesh Assembly, is new to the Cabinet.