Hours after inducting two Praja Rajyam Party MLAs into his Council of Ministers, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Thursday sacked controversial Textiles Minister P Shanker Rao from the Cabinet.
Governor ESL Narasimhan approved the recommendation of the Chief Minister and issued a notification removing Rao from the Cabinet, Raj Bhavan sources said. With this, the strength of the state Cabinet dropped to 38.
Shanker Rao had become an embarrassment to the Congress government as he constantly went public with his allegations of corruption against his fellow ministers as well as the Chief Minister.
Kiran, after a lot of persuasion, secured the Congress high command's permission for sacking Rao and went ahead with the sacking of the minister after the swearing-in of new ministers.
