Krishna district people disappointed as Balashouri misses Union Cabinet berth

Vijayawada: People of Krishna district are disappointed as the Machilipatnam Lok Sabha candidate and Jana Sena Party leader Vallabhaneni Balashouri did not get a berth in the Union cabinet, which took oath in Delhi on Sunday. Balashouri won the Lok Sabha elections three times. He won two times consecutively from Machilipatnam Lok Sabha constituency in 2019 and 2024. He contested on behalf of Jana Sena as an NDA candidate and defeated YSRCP candidate Simhadri Chandrasekhar.

Balashouriwas earlier also elected to Lok Sabha from Tenali constituency in Guntur district. The name of Balashouri was in the media for the last few days as he was expected to get a portfolio in the Union cabinet. The TDP, BJP and Jana Sena leaders and cadre are hopeful that the two alliance candidates may get five portfolios. But only three candidates – K Rammohan Naidu from Srikakulam, Pemmasani Chandrasekhar of Guntur Lok Sabha constituency and Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma of Narasapuram-- were inducted into the Union cabinet. Rammohan Naidu and Chandrasekhar were elected from the TDP and Srinivasa Varma is a BJP leader. Balashouri has been in politics for more than 20 years. He has good contacts with leaders of Delhi since he was in the Congress party. He quit the Congress and joined the YSRCP and was elected in 2019 from Machilipatnam.

Later, he joined Jana Sena before 2024 Lok Sabha elections held on May 13 and won comfortably. People of Krishna district hoped that the MP would get a berth in the Union cabinet. Former MP Konakalla Narayana also did not get a berth in the cabinet. Vijayawada MP and TDP leader Kesineni Chinni’s name was also not figured in the Union cabinet. He contested for the first time and was elected to Lok Sabha from Vijayawada.