Senior YSR Congress party leader and Andhra Pradesh assembly speaker Tammineni Seetharam doesn’t have any regrets for not getting the berth in the revamped cabinet of chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, though he, too, was one of the strong aspirants for the ministerial post.
Unlike the other aspirants who expressed their dissatisfaction openly and even revolted against the party, Seetharam has not even expressed his resentment. Instead, he chose to lavish praises on Jagan for doing a social balancing in the cabinet formation.
“Jagan Mohan Reddy is a social reformer. He has turned into a reformer from a politician after his padayatra. It is the responsibility of the oppressed sections and underprivileged sections of the society to protect Jagan, who is like a treasure for them,” Tammineni said, while speaking to media in Vijayawada.
He said the cabinet formation was done in an excellent manner, providing opportunities to all sections of people in proportion to their population. He has done equal justice to all sections of people, the Speaker said.
Stating that he had never anticipated any post from the chief minister, Tammineni said he did not want to become a problem for Jagan at any time and he was ready to fulfil whatever responsibility he would be entrusted with.
He, however, said those who had high expectations on the cabinet berths were bound to feel disappointed.
“But Jagan will take into consideration various equations before filling up the cabinet vacancies,” he said.
Tammineni said Jagan would definitely embarrassed for not accommodating everybody in the cabinet.
“Even when I won as an MLA, he was feeling a little embarrassed in asking me to become the assembly speaker. I told him I had no issues and took up the responsibility,” he recalled.
On the criticism by the Telugu Desam Party on cabinet formation, the Speaker said the OBCs had distanced from the TDP long ago.
“In the coming days, there will be a BC movement and the TDP will be swept away in that tide of social justice,” he predicted. “You won’t get even deposits. You can write it down,” he warned the TDP leaders.