The much awaited expansion of the Cabinet of K. Chandrasekhar Rao may have to wait some more time though he promised to take it up this month-end but had not dropped any indications so far.
Mr. Rao is supposed to fill six berths in his Cabinet which the aspirants have eagerly awaited since the government was sworn in on June 2 with his 12 member team.
All eyes were particularly on Mahabubnagar which did not have any representation though the district returned seven MLAs of the ruling TRS. Expectations were also high in Nizamabad where the TRS won all the nine Assembly seats but has only one Minister. Similarly, there were six women MLAs, including two tribals, of TRS but none of them were accommodated initially. Five other men ST legislators also knocked on the door.
When Mr. Rao announced ten days ago that the expansion of the Cabinet might take place in the month-end, it was expected that he might go for it at the conclusion of the Aashadam on Saturday. However, he seemed to have not made up his mind going by the tempo that he had set for the functioning of the government machinery with as many as 43 decisions on a single day.
Mr. Rao was also handicapped by the delay in cadre allotment of all India service officers and distribution of junior officers between the two State governments which left a vacuum in execution of decisions. It was also rumoured that at least five MLAs of Telugu Desam and all three of YSR Congress might join TRS, in which case, Cabinet expansion and inviting the MLAs into the party did not synchronise though they might not be made Ministers straightaway.
Also, the government had decided to launch a major programme of land distribution for SCs from August 15 and gear up for a full fledged budget session of Assembly later in the month while maintaining pressure on officers to deliver the decisions taken. In these circumstances, a leader said Mr. Rao might not risk expansion immediately. Another leader said it was expected on August 6, the lucky number of Mr. Rao.
