Visakhapatnam: Botsa Satyanarayana, once seen as a likely Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh after the death of Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, is likely to have complete sway over north Andhra politics. He and Dharmana Prasada Rao, also a senior minister in the Rajasekhar Reddy government, have been retained in the Cabinet reshuffle
More than Prasada Rao, Satyanarayana will have influence beyond his district and might be entrusted with the affairs of Visakhapatnam which has three TD MLAs.
“After the exit of Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, Visakhapatnam city does not have a minister. Gudivada Amarnath, a first-time MLA, will have to confine himself to Anakapalli and Budi Mutyala Naidu will have to share his work,'' said a senior leader.
Another leader said Satyanarayana gave a clean sweep to the party in the 2019 elections in Vizianagaram district, winning all the 10 Assembly seats. His brother, Botsa Appala Narasaih, also won with a good majority and recently Satyanarayana had made his nephew Majji Srinivasa Rao the zilla parishad chairperson. This indicated his influence in the district politics, he said.
“Both Botsa and Dharmana will have large roles in the 2024 elections in addition to the government work entrusted by the Chief Minister,'' said a party worker.
Sources said Rajya Sabha member V. Vijay Sai Reddy, the party general secretary running the show in north Andhra, will not allow other leaders to dominate though he is dubbed as an outsider.
“The Chief Minister who will decide who should oversee the affairs of north Andhra,'” a senior YSRC leader from Visakhapatnam said.
