Jana Sena Party president and Andhra Pradesh deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan on Monday had a half-an-hour meeting with Telugu Desam Party president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the state secretariat.
The meeting, though not unusual, led to the speculation over the finalisation of the swearing-in ceremony of the former’s elder brother Konidela Nagababu as the state cabinet minister.
It is already known that CM Chandrababu Naidu has confirmed a cabinet berth for Nagababu, but Naidu was in a dilemma on whether to take the Jana Sena Party into the cabinet before his election as an MLC or after.
Apparently, Pawan Kalyan suggested to Naidu to take Nagababu first into the cabinet, since any delay might lead to needless controversies on social media.
Sources said Naidu also agreed with him and said he would finalised a date soon for the swearing-in ceremony.
The two leaders also discussed the issue of allocation of portfolio to Nagababu.
Pawan Kalyan suggested that his brother could be given tourism and cinematography portfolio, which is presently held by another Jana Sena minister Kandula Durgesh.
In order to accommodate these changes, Pawan Kalyan is understood to have offered to sacrifice either the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development or the Forest and Environment portfolios in favour of Kandula Durgesh, which he is holding at present.
Initially, there was a proposal to allocate the excise or mining portfolios to Nagababu.
However, since these are currently held by BC leader Kollu Ravindra, concerns about potential criticism led to the proposal being dropped.