Naidu Drops Four Ministers, Inducts 13

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday dropped four controversial ministers and inducted 13 freshers, increasing the strength of his council of ministers to 37.

All four ministers dropped _ three resigned and one was sacked for refusing to resign _ had become controversial, due to the activities of close relatives.

The ministers dismissed were T Srinivas Yadav (labour and employment), S V Subba Reddy (roads and buildings), Nettam Raghuram (excise and prohibition) and Ramkishan Rao (forest).

Seven ministers of cabinet rank and six ministers of state with independent charge were sworn in by Governor Dr C Rangarajan.

Srinivas Yadav was replaced by C Krishna Yadav while Mohan Reddy replaced S V Subba Reddy representing Kurnool district.

Nettam Raghuram of Krishna district was replaced by Devineni Venkata Ramana, while Ramkishan Rao of Karimnagar was replaced by E Peddi Reddy.

Naidu reportedly had warned the ministers several times to keep away from their controversial relatives. Naidu has told his cabinet colleagues that he had to drop the four ministers because they failed to change their style of functioning despite warnings. Naidu's move has given rise to speculation that he is planning an early election, though he had only last week denied any move to bring forward the Assembly polls, due in November 1999.

Naidu said the changes have been brought about "to provide representation to all regions and sections" and ensure "a clean and efficient administration."

Meanwhile, the state government will issue an Ordinance by next week, categorising scheduled castes into four groups, the Chief Minister said.

"The cabinet decided to bring in an Ordinance categorising SCs into A, B, C and D groups for the purpose of reservations in employment and education," Naidu told reporters after a cabinet meeting here yesterday.

There were differences among various sub-castes in the state on the issue of categorisation.

While the Mala community, under Mala Mahanadu, is opposing the categorisation, the Madiga sub-caste has been agitating for its implementation.

BJP general secretary N Venkiah Naidu, meanwhile, said here yesterday that Bihar was a fit case for imposing Article 356 in the wake of "total constitutional breakdown there and to save the people of the state from mafia rule."

Upholding the Union cabinet's decision to recommend President's rule in Bihar, he said President K R Narayanan's decision to return the recommendation did not result in any political setback for the party.

"It is the President's decision and we respect it," he said, adding it was for the cabinet to decide on sending back its recommendation to the President.

Criticising Opposition parties for opposing President's rule in the state, he challenged them to join the nationwide debate on use of Article 356.

"Our political rivals are fighting shy on joining the issue since their double standards will be exposed," he said, adding BJP will bring out a white paper on the use or misuse of Article 356 by various governments since 1956.

Following is the list of the new cabinet. Portfolios will be announced later.

Cabinet rank: N Chandrababu Naidu, P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, T Devender Goud, A Madhava Reddy, K Vidyadhar Rao, S Satyanarayana, T Sitaram, K Srihari, Dr Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, M Satyanarayana, T Nageswara Rao, B Veera Reddy, Dr N Janardhan Reddy, Padala Aruna, S Chandramohan Reddy, A Chandrasekhar, K Chandrasekhar Rao, B Gopalakrishan Reddy, B Satyanarayana Murthy, Yella Reddy, P Chandrsekhar, Sakhaleel Basha, B V Mohan Reddy, K Pratibha Bharathi, K Ramachandra Raju, Dr Patnam Subbaiah and Mandava Venkateshwara Rao.

Ministers of state: G Nagesh, N Kistappa, K E Prabhakar, P V Ratniah, D Anjaneyul, C Krishna Yadav, E Peddi Reddy, P Srinivas Reddy, G Syamasundara Shivaji and D Venkata Ramana.