Andhra Pradesh state labour minister Vasamsetti Subhash on Tuesday said he was not all feeling bad about being given a dressing down by Telugu Desam Party president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday for his inability to enrol voters in the upcoming MLC elections from graduates’ constituency.
Speaking to reporters, Subhash said there was no need for any misunderstanding in his regard, as Naidu pulled him up like a father.
“The chief minister is a like father and he has very right to reprimand me if I am at fault. So, there is no need for me to feel hurt,” he said.
The minister said the TDP chief had given instructions to him to see that the TDP candidate Bathula Rajasekhar wins the MLC seat in the upcoming MLC elections from the graduates' constituency.
As part of this, the responsibility for registering a larger number of graduate voters had been placed on him. Naidu reviewed the voters’ enrolment during a teleconference with the leaders of the Godavari districts.
“When he noticed that I was lagging behind voters’ enrolment, he took me to task. There is no need to take this the wrong way. Naidu engages in politics based on values. I was not even a ward member; yet he made me an MLA and gave me the ministerial position, in a way that BC (Backward Class) communities would be proud,” Subhash said.
“If I have been negligent in my duties, that is my fault. That’s why the chief minister pulled me up like a father. I will try to correct my mistakes based on his words. You may interpret his words differently, but for us, who are in the party, we never misunderstand our leader’s words,” he said.
“Even if parents or teachers scold or hit children, it is always for their welfare. Similarly, whatever the party leader says is always for our own good. From the words he spoke yesterday, I have realized that there are many things I need to learn politically. From now on, I will not be negligent in my work,” he said.