Andhra Pradesh appears to be on top of the Congress High Command agenda. In the Central Cabinet rejig, scheduled for October 28 (Sunday), the State is likely to get the lion’s share.

Kurnool MP Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy and erstwhile Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) president and current Congress Rajya Sabha member, Chiranjeevi are already tipped to find a slot in the Union Council of Ministers. Suryaprakash Reddy, the son of former chief minister Kotla Vijayabhasker Reddy has already been asked to be available at the national capital on Sunday, the day the reshuffle is scheduled to take place.

Chiranjeevi is being given a berth in the Union Ministry as part of the promise made to him when he decided to merge his PRP with the Congress unconditionally. He too has been alerted to be made himself available for the Congress High Command on Sunday.

This afternoon, MP from Mahboobabad Lok Sabha seat in Warangal district, Balram Naik, too has received a communication from the national capital to be available to the Delhi leaders on Sunday. As the news of the message spread, Congress circles here began speculating that Naik too will find a place in the Union Council of Ministers. Naik is understood to have received the message from none other than the Cabinet Secretary, sources in Hyderabad said.

The list of aspirants is very lengthy. Prominent among them are MPs like V Hanumantha Rao, Sarve Satyanarayana, Anjan Kumar Yadav and Madhu Yashki Goud who are nursing hopes of being elevated. But till this afternoon, there was no word from the High Command. Also, leaders from all the three regions getting a call from Delhi, the chances of others getting a berth in the Ministry have receded, analysts feel.

Suryaprakash Reddy, who belongs to the elite Reddy community, is from Rayalaseema while Chiranjeevi, a Kapu, represents the Coastal Andhra region and Balram Naik, a Scheduled Tribes (ST) leader is from the Telangana, they point out. The High Command thus, might not have a place for other leaders from the State, unless a minister already in the Union Ministry is dropped, the analysts averred.

Reports doing the rounds in Congress circles point to the possibility of a move to ease out Daggubati Purandheswari and Pallam Raju from the Union Ministry.

Though Chiranjeevi’s name has been doing rounds since long, what surprised many in the State is the likely inclusion of Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy and Balram Naik, who till now were maintained a low profile in state politics.

Prasad@Sakshipost