Andhra Pradesh Health Minister D L Ravindra Reddy, who had been a vocal critic of various schemes launched by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, was sacked from the cabinet tonight.
The Chief Minister removed Ravindra a day after he held talks with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi over the revamp of the state Council of Ministers.
The Chief Minister, who returned from a two-day trip to New Delhi last night, forwarded to Governor E S L Narasimhan the recommendation for dismissal of the Health Minister for the Cabinet, sources in the Chief Minister's Office said.
"In exercise of the powers conferred upon me under Article 164(1) of the Constitution of India, and on the advice of the Chief Minister, I hereby declare that D L Ravindra Reddy ceases to be a Minister with immediate effect from the Council of Ministers," Governor E S L Narasimhan said in a notification issued subsequently.
Ravindra Reddy is currently touring London along with his family and is expected to return to the state on June 4.
A bitter critic of the Chief Minister, Ravindra was the second minister after P Shanker Rao to be sacked from the Kiran Kumar Reddy Cabinet even as indications are that one or two more ministers may meet the same fate soon.
Endowments Minister C Ramachandraiah, who too had been publicly criticising the government and the Chief Minister over different issues, could also be removed from the Cabinet.
But whether the Congress high command agreed to Ramachandraiah's dismissal remains to be seen,given the implications the move could have.
Ramachandraiah, who hails from Kadapa district like Ravindra Reddy, was inducted into the cabinet after the Praja Rajyam Party's merger with Congress in January last year and the Congress high command will have to first convince Union Minister of State for Tourism K Chiranjeevi on the former's removal.
