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25 members of Jagan Reddy’s revamped Cabinet take oath

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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has reconstituted his Cabinet with all 25 ministers taking oath on Monday.

Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan administered the oath of office and secrecy to members of the revamped Cabinet at a ceremony held near the State Secretariat and attended by leaders and workers of YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and senior officials.

Eleven of those who took oath have been part of the earlier Cabinet since June 2019, while the remaining are new faces.

Ambati Rambabu was the first to take oath.

Adimalupu Suresh, Usha Sricharanan and Peddireddy Ramachandrareddy took oath in English while all others completed the formalities in Telugu.

Fourteen new ministers are Dharmana Prasada Rao, P. Rajanna Dora, Gudivada Amarnath, Buddi Muthyala Naidu, Dadishetti Raja, Karumuri Nageswararao, Kittu Satyanarayana, Jogi Ramesh, Ambati Rambabu, Meraga Nagarjuna, Vidadala Rajini, Kakani Govardhanreddy, Roja K. Selvamani and Usha Sricharan.

Botsa Satyanarayana, Peddireddy Ramachandrareddy, Narayanaswamy, Buggana Rajendranath, Gummanooru Jayaram, Sidiri Appalaraju, Pinipe Vishwaroopam, Cheluboina Venugopalakrishna, Taneti Vanitha, Amjad Basha and Adimalupu Suresh had served as ministers in previous Cabinet.

After taking oath, Gudivada Amarnath and Jogi Ramesh knelt down before Jagan Reddy to thank him.

Actor politician R.K. Roja and other first-time women ministers V. Rajini and Usha Sricharan touched the Chief Minister’s feet while the latter blessed them.

There were loud cheers by supporters of the ministers when their names were announced for swearing-in.

While constituting his first Cabinet in June 2019, Jagan Reddy had promised to revamp it halfway through his tenure.

All 24 ministers had submitted their resignations to the chief minister on April 7 to enable him to reconstitute the Cabinet.

There was one vacancy due to the demise of Mekapati Goutham Reddy in February.

The Chief Minister had told the Cabinet meeting that the dropped ministers will be given responsibilities in the party so that their experience can be used to ensure the party’s victory in the 2024 elections.

A lion’s share in the revamped cabinet has gone to the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Backward Classes (BCs).

Out of 25, a total of 16 ministers are from SCs (5), STs (1) and BCs (11). In the previous cabinet, these sections had 13 members (5 SCs, 1 ST, 7 BCs).

Amjad Basha remained the sole representative from minorities. The representation of Other Castes (OCs) has come down to 8 from 11 earlier.

The number of women ministers has also gone up to four from three in the previous Cabinet.

YSRCP stormed to power in 2019, bagging 151 seats in the 175-member Assembly.

Jagan Reddy had formed the Cabinet with 25 ministers. In 2020, two of them Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose and R Mopidevi Venkataramana resigned after they were elected to Rajya Sabha.

They were replaced by Venugopalakrishna and Appalaraju.

Including the Chief Minister, the strength of the state cabinet stayed at 26, which is the maximum strength the council of ministers can maintain.

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LS Speaker reprimands Sonia Gandhi over Waqf bill ‘bulldozed’ remarks

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New Delhi, April 4: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday reprimanded former Congress president Sonia Gandhi over her remarks that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was bulldozed through the Parliament.

Taking strong objection to her claims of Waqf Bill passed ‘forcefully’ in the House, Om Birla termed the comments as ‘unfortunate’ and said that the allegations by senior Congress member was a violation of the democratic norms of the Parliament.

The Speaker noted that the bill was discussed for 13 hours and 53 minutes, with every party participating in the debate and followed by three rounds of voting but despite that Congress member was making such allegations.

“Three rounds of voting were conducted, and the Bill was passed according to the rules of the House. It is unfortunate that, despite following all the parliamentary procedures, such allegations are being made. This is not in line with the democratic norms of Parliament,” Speaker said.

Om Birla’s objection to Sonia’s claims of Waqf bill ‘bulldozed through’ the Parliament came after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju raised the matter in Lok Sabha today.

Rijiju, alluding to Congress RS MP Sonia Gandhi, said that extensive discussions took place in both the Houses over the Waqf bill, still the Opposition was making ‘baseless and absurd’ claims that the bill was passed with force.

He also demanded that the Speaker issues an “appropriate order” in response to these remarks.

Rijiju also highlighted that the Waqf reform debate broke the previous record of longest discussion in the Rajya Sabha.

“The previous record for a long discussion in the Rajya Sabha was during the ESMA (Essential Services Maintenance Act) discussion in 1981, which lasted for 16 hours and 51 minutes. Yesterday, this record was broken with a 17-hour and 2-minute discussion, making it the longest debate so far,” he informed the House.

A day ago, after Lok Sabha passed the Waqf Bill after marathon debate, Sonia Gandhi made her displeasure over the amendments known to party leaders, while addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meet yesterday. She stated that the bill was bulldozed through the House and termed it a brazen assault on the Constitution.

“Yesterday, the Wakf Amendment Bill, 2024 was passed in the Lok Sabha and today it is scheduled to come up in the Rajya Sabha. The bill was in effect bulldozed through. Our party’s position is clear. The Bill is a brazen assault on the Constitution itself,” she said.

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After passage from Parliament, Waqf Bill awaits President’s nod: Details here

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New Delhi, April 4: The Waqf (Amendment) Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha in the wee hours of Friday after a marathon debate, involving heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches. The Upper House debated the bill for nearly 14 hours and then cleared it with 128 votes in favour and 95 against.

The legislation was earlier cleared by the Lok Sabha after nearly 12 hours debate, with 288 votes in favour and 232 against.

With this, both the Houses have cleared the decks for amendments in the Waqf Bill of 1995 and repealing the Mussalman Wakf Act of 1923.

The next course of action is the Presidential assent for the bill, following which it will turn into a law.

The Bill will be sent to President Droupadi Murmu soon and her approval will pave the way for amending the 1995 laws, governing Waqf properties.

According to a leading portal, the government is expecting a smaller window for the approval, unlike the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The NDA government, which is projecting the Waqf Amendment Bill as one of key milestone decision in first year of Modi 3.0 is expected to notify it for implementation, soon after getting President’s nod.

Interestingly, one of the major highlights of Rajya Sabha voting last night, was Biju Janata Dal (BJD)’s stand on the contentious bill.

As per the numbers of NDA and INDIA bloc, the bill was expected to sail through in Rajya Sabha but with a lower margin as compared to Lok Sabha. NDA was expected to get support of 123 MPs but ended up securing 128 votes in favour while INDIA bloc ended at 95 (as against expected figure of 98).

Hours before the voting, Naveen Patknaik-led BJD opened the gates for “conscience vote’, telling its 7 MPs that they would not be bound by a whip and could vote for whichever side they wanted.

Some BJD MPs cross-voted in favour of NDA, there bettering its tally than earlier expected. A total of 119 votes was needed for the bill to get through but BJP’s efficient floor management helped it secure 128 votes.

Meanwhile, Congress has stated that it will challenge the constitutionality of the Waqf legislation in the Supreme Court.

“The INC will very soon be challenging in the Supreme Court the constitutionality of the Wakf (Amendment) Bill, 2024,” he wrote in a post on X.

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Congress MP Imran Masood calls for banning liquor during Navratri

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Saharanpur, March 29: Congress lawmaker Imran Masood said on Saturday that not just meat shops, liquor establishments should be shut during the nine-day festival of Navratri and called for embracing and promoting the spirit of brotherhood and communal harmony.

“Everybody is demanding a ban on meat shops during Navratri. Why is no one asking for a ban on liquor shops? Why is there no outpouring on the free flow of liquor during Navratri? Will this not spoil the purity and sanctity of the festival?” Saharanpur MP said in a special interaction with media.

The Congress Parliamentarian said that peaceful celebration supersedes everything, and it is incumbent upon all communities to maintain decorum during festivities and also make certain sacrifices, be it Eid or Navratri.

Notably, Eid-ul-Fitr and Navratri are coinciding on the same day this year. Both festivals are set to fall on Monday, with little possibility of change in the Eid schedule on account of moon sighting.

Days ago, the Congress MP also extended support to the demands of a meat ban during Navratri celebrations. In an apparent message to the Muslim community, he said that nothing would change if one did not eat meat for ten days.

“What matters above everything is the peaceful co-existence of communities. At no point in time, the differences over food preferences lead to communal strife,” Masood told newspersons.

Congress MP, when asked questions on the party’s strategy for the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, said that the Opposition is fully prepared to take on the Centre on “partisan legislation”.

“We opposed the amendments in the JPC meeting, tooth and nail. We will strongly voice our dissent in Parliament too,” he said.

Notably, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday that the Waqf Bill will not be delayed any further and will be reintroduced in the ongoing session of Parliament.

Only four working days of the Budget Session are left, as it concludes on April 4.

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