The appointment of newly-appointed minister for medical and health Vidadala Rajini as in-charge minister for Visakhapatnam by YSR Congress party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has led to an interesting debate in the media circles.
Rajini, who defected from the Telugu Desam Party to YSRC in 2019, is a first time MLA from Chilakaluripet assembly constituency in Guntur district.
Yet, she has managed to get into the good books of Jagan and get the cabinet post, while many other seniors like Kolusu Parthasarathy, Malladi Vishnu, Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy and Samineni Udaya Bhanu were forced to drop out from the race.
Not only that Rajini was given the all-important portfolio of medical and health. Now, she has been given the in-charge minister post for Visakhapatnam, which is generally entrusted to senior ministers because of its strategic importance.
It clearly shows that Rajini’s importance in the YSRC and the government is growing. Naturally, political observers are comparing her with firebrand leader R K Roja in terms of priority in the party and the government.
Though Roja, too, had started her political career in Telugu Desam Party, she has been associated with the YSRC right from the beginning; and is considered a trusted lieutenant of Jagan.
Secondly, unlike Rajini who is a first-timer to the assembly, Roja has been a two-time MLA from Nagari assembly constituency in Chittoor district. Yet she had to wait for three years to get the cabinet post; and she was given a not-so-important portfolio of culture and tourism.
And Roja was made in-charge of Krishna district, which is also politically significant, but compared to Visahapatnam, it is not so important.
“In any case, it is pretty evident that Rajini has been given more priority than Roja in the party and the government,” a political observer said.
However, there is no big reason for this differentiation. It is an open fact that Jagan has given a lot of importance to the BCs and SCs in the cabinet formation and the party positions.
Since Rajini is a BC, she has become a natural choice for the cabinet berth and since she is soft in her talk and attitude, she might have been chosen for Visakhapatnam, sources said.