CM Ramesh and Bandi Sanjay in Modi’s cabinet?

The general elections are just one and half years away and national media reports that PM Narendra Modi is thinking of a union cabinet reshuffle for one last time. These reports further add that the cabinet reshuffle might happen before the union budget which is due in February. The latest info is that BJP leaders in AP and Telangana are likely to get a place in the central cabinet.

It is heard from Delhi circles that one from AP and one from Telangana will get a place in Modi’s cabinet. The BJP leadership hopes to give priority to the Telugu states in the reshuffle, especially with the intention of giving priority to the states where assembly elections are to be held in 2023.

There are high chances for Bandi Sanjay getting a cabinet berth. Secunderabad MP Kishan Reddy is already part of Modi’s cabinet and if Bandi Sanjay makes the cut, there will be two from Telangana. BJP has four MPs from Telangana. Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay is also T-BJP chief and in the last couple of years, Bandi Sanjay took on Telangana CM KCR. Among other MPs Dharmapuri Aravind and Soyam Bapurao, the former defeated KCR’s daughter Kavitha and is highly vocal against KCR. Buzz is that Aravind’s name is also in consideration but BJP high command is said to be inclined towards Bandi Sanjay.

In the case of Andhra Pradesh, BJP has no Lok Sabha MPs. CM Ramesh and GVL Narasimha Rao represent the Rajya Sabha. Among them, GVL is a person who has been in the party since the beginning, but due to recent political reasons, chances are high for CM Ramesh to get the cabinet berth.

Telangana CM KCR is focusing on AP in order to expand his BRS party. He is targeting his community Velama leaders in AP. CM Ramesh belongs to the same community and so the BJP wants to checkmate KCR’s strategy and prefer Ramesh over GVL for cabinet minister’s role.

Simultaneously the BJP is contemplating beyond these two names. Former minister Daggubati Purandeshwari’s name is also on the radar but currently she is not representing either of the houses of Parliament. If the BJP wants seniors who have been with the party for a long time, it has to think of consequences.

Any leader who is included in the union cabinet, needs to represent either Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha within six months. But within the next six months Rajya Sabha will not see any vacancies. One seat in July and nine seats will turn vacant in August and BJP is calculating these aspects as well. A seat will be vacant in Goa on July 28th and this seat belongs to the BJP. Then in August, 3 seats from Gujarat and 6 seats from West Bengal are getting vacant.

One of the 3 seats in Gujarat is represented by S. Jayashankar and he is likely to retain his seat. Gujarat leaders will have a chance in the remaining two seats. 5 out of 6 vacant TMC seats in West Bengal are Congress seats. This time 2 to 3 out of 6 Rajya Sabha seats will come to BJP as the party strengthened remarkably in recent times.

The BJP wants more Bengal leaders on their side and it might prefer local leaders over outsiders. Summing up all the equations, BJP has two names from AP and they are CM Ramesh and GVL.