HYDERABAD: No Congress MP from Andhra Pradesh could find a place in the reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday, though it aroused high expectations among them.At present, there are five Ministers from Andhra Pradesh which accounts for 46 MPs (33 Lok Sabha and 14 Rajya Sabha) — S. Jaipal Reddy, D. Purandeswari, A. Sai Pratap, M. M. Pallam Raju and Panabaka Lakshmi.
This does not include Mr. Jairam Ramesh, who is a Rajya Sabha member from the State.
While Mr. Reddy, a Cabinet-rank Minister was shifted from Urban Development to the Petroleum & Natural Gas Ministry, the portfolio of Mr. Sai Pratap, a Minister of State, was changed from Steel to Heavy Industries. There is no change in the portfolios of others.
Two reasons are being attributed by these MPs to their failure to make it to the high table. One, the broader political considerations of the UPA government, particularly Assembly elections in several States later this year. This gave little scope for bestowing much attention on Andhra Pradesh.
This does not suggest that they were not at all in the reckoning. A senior leader said that the names of one MP belonging to the Telangana region and another from coastal Andhra figured high in the list of probables.
But, with the Congress leadership focussed on giving greater representation to Uttar Pradesh, these names were dropped.
The other more significant reason is that the Centre did not want to confound the political confusion already existing in the State over the Andhra-Telangana dispute. If it picked up an MP from one region, there would be protests from the other, leaving it no option than to induct at least two.
Moreover, it would serve no political purpose considering that the AICC leadership has summoned Seemandhra MPs for a discussion on the Srikrishna Committee report on January 20 and the Telangana MPs later, ahead of the all-party meeting scheduled later this month.
