Balaraju joins anti-CM group

Hyderabad: Yet another minister came out openly against Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy.

Tribal welfare minister P. Balaraju, who has been maintaining distance from the Chief Minister in recent times, came down heavily on him on Monday.

Speaking to the media, Balaraju alleged that he is facing discrimination from the Chief Minister because of his loyalty to the high command.

His Cabinet colleagues D.L. Ravindra Reddy and P. Sankar Rao lost their berths in the Cabinet after they had criticised the Chief Minister.

According to Balaraju, the Chief Minister’s attitude towards him had changed after he had decided to abide by the high command’s decision on state’s bifurcation.

He alleged that the Chief Minister was taking decisions related to his ministry without even informing him. While Congress president Sonia Gandhi was promoting SCs and STs, they were being discriminated against in the state, Balaraju said.

He accused the Chief Minister of humiliating him by not inviting him to the Rachchabanda programme held in Visakhapatnam recently.

Balaraju said that the Chief Minister had undertaken several projects in his constituency in his absence.

Replying to a question, Balaraju said he was not big enough to comment about some of the Chief Minister’s decisions but if things were happening in the state with the knowledge of the Chief Minister, it would affect the party.

Balaraju said that he had worked with several Chief Ministers and that his political future did not depend on anyone as the people knew him well.