Chandrababu’s Photo-Op Gimmicks Over New Ministers   

Kommineni Srinivasa Rao

After ignoring Muslims and Dalits for over four and a half years, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu showered some love on the two communities in the context of current political scenario with elections around the corner. By giving ministerial berths to Muslim leader NMD Farooq and son of recently murdered MLA, Kidari Someswara Rao, Kidari Sravan, six months before the elections, Chandrababu is claiming that he is focusing on the welfare of the minorities. Why were the two communities ignored for so long by Chandrababu?

In 2014, no Muslim candidate of the TDP was voted to power. Even though, MLC Farooq has been loyal to the party for a long time, he was for reasons unknown not inducted into the Chandrababu cabinet. On the other side, MLCs Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, P Narayana and Nara Lokesh were offered ministerial berths. After promising to give ministerial posts to a Muslim and a tribal leader from the YSRCP, Chandrababu betrayed the two after they defected to the TDP, whereas he inducted three upper caste leaders from YSRCP into the cabinet.

However, Vijayawada MLA Jaleel Khan was given the Waqf Board Chairman post while Chand Basha was given the post of the government Whip. It is clear that the TDP is not interested in giving prominence to these communities since they did not vote in favour of the TDP in the elections. This could be inferred from the fact that 6 out of the 7 MLAs from the tribal communities are from YSRCP while the lone TDP MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao was brutally murdered by the Maoists recently. His son Kidari Sravan was strategically roped into the cabinet by Chandrababu to woo the voters.

After the death of TDP leader Bhuma Nagi Reddy, the political scenario with respect to the new minister Farooq changed dramatically. As per popular perception, Bhuma Nagi Reddy died of depression thanks to Chandrababu's betrayal after he defected to the TDP from YSRCP. It was only during the Nandyal bye-election that Chandrababu was reminded of Farooq's importance in the TDP. Farooq was given the MLC post and was eventually made the Council Chairman to woo the Muslim voters in Nandyal.

In the current scenario, Farooq was given the ministerial berth with a strategy to woo the Muslim voters in the Rayalaseema region. Also, TDP's alliance with the Congress also led to the decision. Jaleel Khan and Chand Basha were sidelined on the pretext of the Governor's hesitation in inducting defected MLAs into the cabinet. It is quite evident that Chandrababu's political decisions are based only on electoral benefit but not public welfare. Whether the Muslims, Dalits and tribals trust Chandrababu with his gimmicks is yet to be seen.

Also Read: Owaisi Makes Fun Of Chandrababu’s Love For Democracy