Andhra CM likely to expand Cabinet, induct son Lokesh

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is expected to expand his Council of Ministers on April 2 and his MLC-son Nara Lokesh may find a place in the cabinet, Telugu Desam Party sources indicated.

Induction of Lokesh, who today took oath as a member of the Legislative Council, into the Cabinet is imminent and the young leader himself dropped enough hints about it in a recent interview to a Telugu television channel.

The `muhurtam’ (auspicious time) for the Cabinet expansion, which could see the induction of at least five new faces, including that of Lokesh, and the removal of an equal number, is fixed at 9.25 am on April 2, the sources said.

The swearing-in ceremony will be held on the State Government Transitional Headquarters premises at Velagapudi in the Amaravati capital region, they said.

Naidu (66) has not yet expanded or reshuffled his Cabinet after assuming office on June 8, 2014.

Since the next assembly elections are just two years away, he’s now planning to undertake a major rejig to revitalise both the government and the party and make it battle fit, the sources said

—PTI