Jagan Mohan Reddy, who took power in Andhra Pradesh last week, will have a record five Deputy Chief Ministers.
The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister will have a full 25-member cabinet with five deputies, he announced at a meeting of his lawmakers this morning. The new ministers will be sworn in on Saturday.
The deputy Chief Ministers will represent Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes, minorities, and the Kapu communities, said leaders of Jagan Reddy's YSR Congress.
Jagan Reddy reportedly also told his legislators that the cabinet would predominantly comprise members from the weaker sections, "contrary to expectations that the Reddy community would get a lion's share".
He said the cabinet would be reconstituted after a mid-term review of the government's performance. In the previous government headed by N Chandrababu Naidu, there were two deputy Chief Ministers, one each from the Kapu and backward classes communities.
46-year-old Jagan Reddy led his party to a huge victory in the recent state and national elections in Andhra Pradesh. The YSR Congress won 151 of the 175 seats in the state assembly, wiping out N Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party. The party also won 22 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats. Chandrababu Naidu was the first chief minister of Andhra Pradesh after its bifurcation to carve out Telangana five years ago.