Former Union Minister Srikat Jena has congratulated new Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy for his “bold and historic step” by appointing five Deputy Chief Ministers in his Cabinet, each one from SC, ST, OBC, Minority and Kapu community.
“I hope Sri Naveen Patnaik will follow it soon in Odisha,” he said in a statement.
Notably, Jena, while he was head of the Pradesh Congress Committee’s manifesto panel, before the last elections, had proposed multiple Deputy Chief Ministers representing different communities in Odisha in the event of a Congress Government coming to power in the State.
Jena’s move was viewed in the party circles as disruptive activity. Such other utterances by Jena later were considered as antiparty activities, for which he was dismissed from the party.
No wonder, Jena now finds a supporter of his idea in Jagan Mohan Reddy, for which he has congratulated the latter.