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Updated: Feb 16, 2019 07:41 IST

The much-awaited expansion of the Telangana cabinet headed by chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao will take place on February 19.

KCR, as the chief minister is popularly called, met governor ESL Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan on Friday and conveyed his decision to expand his council of ministers. He requested the governor to administer the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers at 11.30 am on Tuesday.

According to an official communication from the chief minister’s office (CMO), the auspicious muhurtham at which the cabinet expansion would be done falls on Magha Shuddha Pournami (full moon day). “The chief minister instructed the officials concerned to make necessary arrangements for the swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers,” the CMO spokesman said.

The cabinet expansion is being done more than two months after KCR took over as chief minister for a second successive term after last December’s Telangana elections. KCR, along with legislative council member Mohammad Mahmud Ali, was sworn in on December 13, 2018.

Since then, he has been running the government without any minister in his cabinet. According to a TRS leader familiar with developments, the main reason for the delay in expanding the cabinet was his decision to restructure the administration.

“He wants to merge closely linked departments so that each minister is not burdened with too many portfolios. For example, he suggested the merger of agriculture, irrigation, cooperation and marketing departments since they are inter-related. The exercise is now more or less complete, so KCR is going in for a cabinet expansion,” the leader said.

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The maximum strength of the cabinet, as per norms, should not be more than 18, including the chief minister. “So he can accommodate another 16 ministers. In the first phase, he is expected to induct 8-10 ministers, and the remaining in the second phase, which will be done after the Lok Sabha elections,” he added.

The chief minister wanted his team of ministers ready before the state budget session starts on February 22. The vote-on-account will be presented on the first day at 11.30 am. The session will conclude on February 25 .

In all probability, KCR will himself present the vote-on-account as he wants to keep finance with himself. “This is because the newly inducted minister, if given the finance portfolio, will hardly have any time to understand the budget,” the TRS leader quoted said.