The newly sworn-in Ministers hailed Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for allotting 70% of the posts to weaker sections.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Minister for Social Welfare Merugu Nagarjuna said that the new Cabinet is reflective of the ideologies of social reformers such as B.R. Ambedkar, Jyotirao Phule and Babu Jagjivan Ram, who strived for the uplift of weaker sections. He recalled that for the first time in the history of the country, 70% of the Ministerial posts are given to SCs, STs, BCs and Minorities. “Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will go down in history as a leader who ushered in social revolution and worked for the welfare of Dalits,” Mr. Nagarjuna said.
He also took aim at Leader of Opposition Nara Chandrababu Naidu for his ‘unsavoury’ remarks on the new Cabinet, and reminded him that there were no Ministers from the Scheduled Tribes or minorities until 2018 in Chandrababu Naidu’s cabinet. He said that the previous government had completely abandoned Dalits and stated that he does not have any right to speak for the Dalit community.
Meanwhile, addressing the media at a separate press conference, Minister for Information and Public Relations, Chelluboyina Venugopala Krishna reiterated that the Chief Minister has been giving priority to BCs, SCs, STs and minorities, where 17 out of 25 Ministers belong to these communities, of which 11 are BCs. He stated that Mr. Naidu had never supported BCs, other than using them as vote banks, and asserted that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had redefined BCs as the ‘Backbone Class’.
