Kiran gets Delhi nod to fill 3 Telangana berths

HYDERABAD: Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s wish to reshuffle his cabinet may remain a dream at least for the time being.
The central leadership of the party has reportedly allowed him to limit the expansion of his cabinet to induction of three legislators from the Telangana region, contrary to the impression given to him when it asked him to induct two PRP legislators last month.
At the moment, the party has reportedly given Kiran Kumar Reddy the go-ahead to fill three vacancies from Telangana caused by the resignation of Jupalli Krishna Rao and Komatireddy Venkata Reddy and sacking of P Shankar Rao.
The swearingin is likely to happen on February 9, considered an auspicious day.
The chief minister, sources said, wants to fill the vacancies with Capt N Uttam Kumar Reddy (Huzurnagar), Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka (Madhira) and MLC K Premsagar Rao (Adilabad) where a byelection is due.
The district is not represented in the cabinet now.
The chief minister is also considering promoting Kondru Murali Mohan, who is a whip now, as chief whip and appoint in his place Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy.
As there is a provision to have another whip, the chief minister is proposing PRP MLA Vanga Geetha’s name for it.
The chief minister, who met Sonia Gandhi on Sunday evening for the second time in as many days, put forth his request for total reconstitution of the cabinet since he wanted to have his own team.
The chief minister has been stressing, with central leaders, the need for a team that is different from the present one which is basically the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s.
As his performance would be judged by how he is going to handle byelections in the state and how he will prepare the party for the 2014 elections, the chief minister wants to have people who have allegiance to the party and to himself 
But the party leadership does not look at the situation through Kiran Kumar Reddy’s eyes.
As cabinet reconstitution is always followed by large scale dissent.
it is worried over how the party would be able to fare in the byelections in future.
But sources said Kiran Kumar Reddy is understood to have told Ghulam Nabi Azad, whom he met on Sunday afternoon, that it was time for the party to act a little boldly and face the challenge.
The chief minister went to Delhi on Saturday and, after a marathon meeting with Ghulam Nabi Azad, he met Sonia Gandhi for a brief while.
His meeting with Azad on Sunday lasted more than two hours.
He is understood to have expressed his fear that if reconstitution is not allowed this time also, it would send signals to his “adversaries” in cabinet.