Ministers term new Cabinet a symbol of social justice

Vijayawada: Affirming that the new Cabinet reflects social justice, newly sworn-in ministers hailed Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy for allotting 70 per cent posts to weaker sections.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Merugu Nagarjuna said that the new Cabinet is reflecting the ideologies of BR Ambedkar, Jyotirao Phule and Babu Jagjivanram, who strived for the upliftment of weaker sections and recalled that for the first time in the history of the country, 70 per cent of the ministerial posts are given to SCs, STs, BCs and Minorities. On this occasion, he stated that the Chief Minister will go down in history as a leader who ushered in the social revolution and worked for the welfare of Dalits.

Further, he slammed opposition leader Chandrababu Naidu for his remarks on the new cabinet and reminded him that there were no ST and Minority ministers until 2018 in Chandrababu's cabinet. He said that the previous government had completely abandoned Dalits and stated that Naidu doesn't have any right to speak for the Dalit community. He questioned Chandrababu whether he had done anything for the Dalit welfare.

Meanwhile, speaking to the media in a separate press conference, Chelluboyina Venugopal 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 Naidu had never supported BCs, and had never given priority to them, other than using them as vote banks. Asserting that the Chief Minister had redefined BCs as Backbone Class, he opined that Naidu had no moral right to talk for BCs.