Haribabu likely to find place in Union Cabinet

A Kapu leader may succeed him as State party chief

K. Haribabu

Lending credence to speculation on his induction into the Union Cabinet, Andhra Pradesh BJP President and Visakhapatnam MP K. Haribabu left for New Delhi along with his family on Saturday evening after he reportedly got a telephone call from the party’s top brass.

According to party sources, Mr. Haribabu is in the reckoning for a Cabinet berth but is likely to be made a Minister of State (MoS).

Representation

A senior BJP leader told The Hindu that there was a strong indication that Mr. Haribabu was going to be accommodated as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah decided to give representation to a leader from the State and are learnt to have preferred Mr. Haribabu as per the suggestion of an influential party leader from the State.

Mr. Haribabu and Narsapuram MP Gokaraju Gangaraju are the only Lok Sabha members belonging to the BJP from A.P.

The BJP will have to scout for a successor to Mr. Haribabu as the State party chief . He was appointed to the post in March 2014 for three years but had been continuing in the post.

If that post falls vacant, it may have to be filled without any delay as the party can’t afford to be headless at a time when the election tempo is building up.

New party chief

Party sources say either MLC Somu Veerraju or former Minister Kanna Lakshminarayana, who switched loyalties from the Congress after its debacle in 2014 elections, may be handed over the party reigns if the BJP decides to have a Kapu leader in the saddle. BJP Mahila Morcha National in-Charge Daggubati Purandeswari from the Kamma community is also said to be considered but the odds are learnt to be in favour of one of the Kapu leaders.