With the induction of YS Choudhary of regional ally Telugu Desam Party in the Modi Cabinet as Minister of State, the representation of Andhra Pradesh has got a big shot in the arm. Union Minister for Civil Aviation P Ashok Gajapti Raju of TDP as well as Minister of State Nirmala Sitharaman of the BJP already represented the State.
Choudhary, who heads the Sujana Group of Industries and is also a close lieutenant of TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, is quite an influential figure.On the contrary, Telangana State, which was so far unrepresented in the Modi team, got a relatively minor representation on Sunday with the induction of the lone BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya. BJP's ally TDP too has only one MP from Telangana but he was not a serious contender for induction.
A bigger share for Andhra Pradesh was expected, given the fact that Telugu Desam Party is a key ally of the BJP at the Centre and the two parties also share power at the Center.Though Dattatreya, after taking oath asserted that he will work to ensure proper implementation of AP State Reorganisation Act, so Telangana gets its due share, there were apprehensions in the State that Andhra Pradesh may try to have its way using its clout and presence in the Union Cabinet in the matter of getting more than its due share in the division of assets between the two Telugu States.
Dattatreya, who was yet to be assigned a portfolio said that he will work to the best of his ability irrespective of what responsibility he gets. “I will work for better coordination between the Center and the Telangana State”, he said.While Sujana Choudhary is a fresh face, for Dattatreya's induction on Sunday marks his return to the Central Cabinet. Earlier he had served as a Minister of State in the Vajpayee led NDA Government.
Quiet popular, both among the people and the BJP cadres, the backward class leader and MP from Secunderabad is known as a grassroot level leader and a very simple person. Presently he was serving as the national vice-president of the BJP.Known as Dattanna, he rose from the ranks from the RSS and was elected to the lok Sabha for the first time in 1991, a feat he repeated in all the elections except 2004 and 2009.
YS Choudhary on the other hand is not a man of masses and he recently made entry in to the Upper House of Parliament along with another industrialist CM Ramesh. Both Choudhary and Ramesh are personally close to the TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu. Choudhary was also serving as TDP Parliamentary leader.