Andhra Pradesh has 5 deputy CMs

In an unprecedented political move, new Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has appointed five deputy chief ministers, said to be the highest for any state in the country.

Reddy's five deputies are picked from five major social groups - Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Backward Classes (BC), minorities and Kapus. This is seen as Reddy's gesture to reward these communities for supporting his YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), enabling it to storm to power with a landslide victory last month. The YSRCP polled nearly 50% votes to win 151 seats in the 175-member Assembly and also bag 22 out of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state, virtually wiping out the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

Jagan, as the YSRCP chief is popularly known, was sworn in as the chief minister at a public ceremony in Vijayawada on May 30. Reddy, 46, whose father was also a state chief minister before he died in a helicopter crash, told a legislature party meeting that the cabinet will have representation from all sections of society. He also declared that half of the council of

ministers would be from lower castes and minorities.

In its election manifesto, the YSRCP has made various promises for the welfare and development of these communities, which constitute about 70% of the state's population. Reddy's predecessor, N. Chandrababu Naidu, had two deputy chief ministers - K. E. Krishna Murthy and N. Chinnarajappa, representing the BC and Kapu communities, respectively.

Political analyst Palwai Raghavendra Reddy believes that the new chief minister's move to have five deputies is more of a symbolic gesture as real power will be concentrated in his hands and those of the coterie around him.

"It is good optics. It is only to show to these communities that their representatives have been made deputy chief ministers," he said.

"Power in regional parties across the country is centralised and YSRCP is no exception," he added.