Hyderabad, January 20: The Union Cabinet reshuffle initially sent MPs from the State into a state of “depression.” Soon, it turned into rage. While some began to fret and fume in public, the others kept a stiff upper lip.
As the swearing-in at the Rashtrapati Bhavan ended, MPs from both sides of the divide just couldn’t stomach it. Warned Manda Jagannadham who had considered himself a sure bet: “This does not augur well for the Congress. Chandrababu Naidu and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will take advantage.” Not stopping at that, he went down the memory lane to the time when he was in the TDP. “Naidu used to get more funds for the Centre when the NDA was in power. These days, MPs from AP mean nothing to the Congress.”
Another MP said: “This is nothing but humiliation for a state which has sent 32 MPs to the Lok Sabha. When NTR said the self-respect of Telugus had been mortgaged in the streets of Delhi, he was, in fact, speaking the truth.” A few MPs from the Telangana region, V Hanumantha Rao, Sarve Satyanarayana and Anjan Kumar Yadav, wondered if dame fortune would ever smile at them.
One MP from coastal Andhra could not even speak coherently. “I do not know what has gone wrong. There won’t be any expansion in the near future, we have to languish like this forever,” he lamented.
Jagan Mohan Reddy’s men are already out, adding insult to injury. “This is nothing but humiliation. The Telugus’ self-respect has been dented. This is what the Congress is all about,” Jagan Mohan Reddy loyalist Ambati Rambabu said.
–Agencies