The vice-president post given to senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu was not an elevation to him, but was a sort of punishment posting, according to Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
Speaking in the state assembly, Naidu said Venkaiah Naidu was a tall leader in the Bharatiya Janata Party from South India, but he was sidelined by the BJP in the name of promotion as vice president of the country.
“It was, in fact, a punishment,: he said.
Naidu said there was no one left in the BJP to represent the south at the center.
“Venkaiah Naidu was the only leader for BJP in the south. He was a leader who has friendly relations with all the southern states. But he was sidelined too. It only proves the center's lack of respect for the south," the TDP chief said.
He pointed out that except Sadadnad Gowda from Karnataka, there was no one from south in the union cabinet.
He expressed dismay over the indifference of the union budget towards setting up a separate railway zone in Visakhapatnam, a promise made in the bifurcation Act.
Naidu said it was unfortunate that there was not even a mention of Andhra Pradesh in the Union budget.
“Is Andhra Pradesh out of India? What we had got in the last four years was peanuts when compared with Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Do you know how many premier institutions are there in Hyderabad, Bangalore or Chennai,” he asked.