The newly-formed Tirupati and Annamayya districts, which are considered as the citadels in terms of the number of seats won by the YSR Congress party (YSRCP), have drawn a blank in the Cabinet reshuffle in Andhra Pradesh.
The party high-command seems to have decided not to consider any legislator for the Minister’s berth from the two districts where the YSRCP won all 13 constituencies with a thumping majority in the 2019 general elections.
The representation of the undivided Chittoor district in the State Cabinet appears skewed. As part of the reorganisation process, Chittoor district got trifurcated. Three positions were garnered by the shrunken Chittoor district, but Tirupati and Annamayya, though they were earlier part of the same district fully or partially, have not got even one berth.
Higher SC footprint
The Tirupati district, which saw merger of three constituencies into it from SPSR Nellore district, is now known for its higher Scheduled Caste (SC) population. In fact, the Tirupati Lok Sabha constituency also is reserved for SC, with three Assembly segments Satyavedu, Sullurpeta and Gudur reserved for the community.
Similarly, Railway Koduru is the lone SC reserved seat in Annamayya district. The community was hoping for a Cabinet berth for at least one of the four aspirants from the southern Rayalaseema region, but the YSRCP seemed to have thought otherwise, by retaining K. Narayanaswamy from Chittoor.
SK. Amzath Basha from Kadapa district has retained his Cabinet berth, considering his loyalty to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
In the district with 17 constituencies, the other five aspirants barring Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Mr. Amzath Basha, who were hoping getting into the Cabinet, felt let down for not making it to the Cabinet in the recent reshuffle.
