Now that the elections to the Legislative Council are over and the Upper House is all set to be constituted by the month end, Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy is facing a daunting task of expanding his Council of Ministers.

All these days, the Chief Minister has been postponing the Cabinet expansion for one reason or the other – municipal elections, cooperative elections, AICC plenary, panchayat raj elections, Karimnagar and Bobbili byelections and the latest Legislative Council polls. Now, he is looking for some other excuses to postpone the Cabinet expansion.

According to the CMO sources, there is every possibility that the Chief Minister might delay the Cabinet expansion further, on the ground that the Congress high command is busy with its preparations in the Uttar Pradesh elections, which are very important for the survival of the UPA government. If the Congress fails miserably in the UP elections, it would not dare to create further troubles in the Congress elsewhere in the country. Since Cabinet expansion triggers dissidence among those who fail to get berths, the high command might not give a green signal.

And even if the Congress tastes success in the UP, the expansion of Cabinet in AP is unlikely, because the UPA government might go in for a mid-term polls in the country to reestablish its supremacy. Thus, it will give one more excuse for YSR. In the meantime, his government would be left with hardly 18 months time for preparing for the next Assembly elections in the State.

Howevever, these are all ifs and buts. But, it is for certain that YSR is finding excuses for delaying the inevitable. May be after Greater Hyderabad polls?