Reacting strongly to a report in a section of vernacular media that he would step down as MLA if he was not retained as Minister in the Cabinet rejig, State Energy Minister and senior YSR Congress Party leader Balineni Srinivasa Reddy has maintained that he was not after the Minister's post.
‘’Party is important to me. I have always said that, it is not the Minister’s post,” the former Minister tweeted on Saturday and threatened to file a defamation case against the particular vernacular daily if it did not stop carrying ‘‘slanderous accusations’‘.
He further tweeted ahead of the total Cabinet revamp on April 11, ‘‘I had resigned as a Minister four years after late Dr YSR’s death and stood by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. I am a big fan of Chief Minister Y S Jagan.”
Mr. Srinivasa Reddy also recalled that he had declared his unstinted support when the Chief Minister had announced replacement of the present set of ministers half way through the five-year term. ''Composition of the Cabinet is a prerogative of the Chief Minister and all in the Cabinet had to abide by the decision taken by him,'' he had maintained.
Meanwhile, suspense continued over the new members of the Cabinet as all the 12 MLAs from the district waited with a bated breath for the Chief Minister's decision ahead of the new Ministers assuming office on Monday. The party leadership had given a hint that A. Suresh, Education Minister, might be continued in the new Cabinet, according to party sources. The Chief Minister was also considering the names of M. Venugopal, Darsi MLA, and Burra Madhusudan Yadav, Kanigiri MLA, for inclusion in the new Cabinet, the sources indicated.
