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HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is likely to expand his Cabinet within a fortnight or before the next Budget session. The ruling Congress appears to be preparing the ground to make the Cabinet more inclusive ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

With the General Elections on the horizon, the party is wary of being criticised for the lack of representation of several communities in the Cabinet. For instance, Mudhiraj and Yadav groups are in sizable numbers in the BC community but are not represented in the Cabinet. Likewise, the current Cabinet does not have representatives of some major communities.

Sources said that the party will accommodate representatives from SC, ST, BC and Reddy communities in the expansion. The present composition of the Cabinet includes four Reddys and representation from predominant Mala (SC), Madiga (SC), Koya (ST), Goud (BC), Padmashali/Munnurukapu (BC), Kamma, Velama and Brahmin.

The sources said that MLAs G Vivek (SC), N Balu Naik (ST), Malreddy Ranga Reddy (Reddy), Sudharshan Reddy (Reddy), Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy (Reddy) and K Premsagar Rao (Velama) are among the front runners for a Cabinet post. When it comes to BCs, the party is learnt to have three options — MLAs Veerlapally Shankar and V Srihari (Mudhiraj), and MLC nominee Bomma Mahesh Kumar Goud.

Among the BC MLAs, the Congress has already appointed Beerla Ailaiah and Adi Srinivas as party whips and the chances of them being shortlisted are understandably bleak.

There is also no Muslim representing the Congress in either House of the Legislature. At this juncture, it is unclear whether the party would induct a Muslim leader, despite elections being around the corner.

Speaking to TNIE, a senior Congress leader said: “The party high command has decided not to include those who have contested in the elections but were defeated.”

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Congress is considering the option of nominating senior leaders who have served the party with positions of Cabinet rank.

Revanth, Owaisi UK visit

The bonhomie between arch political rivals Congress and AIMIM was on full display during Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s visit to the United Kingdom.

A photo of AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi in conversation with Revanth Reddy in London has triggered speculations of both the parties burying the hatchet and making peace, which seemed a distant reality not very long ago.

The State government has released a photograph of Revanth and Akbaruddin visiting London Shard, an high altitude of 309 meters, to understand how a “life-filled river Thames connects the northern-side of London”.