Having brought 33 MPs to the Congress kitty from his state, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajashekara Reddy said on Sunday he was hopeful they will garner important portfolios in the Central government, despite pressure from allies for greater share of the power pie.
Reddy, who was in Delhi to meet AICC president Sonia Gandhi, told reporters here that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would accommodate important allies such as the DMK from Tamil Nadu, "as they too brought a large number of MPs into the UPA".
But, with Andra Pradesh contributing the maximum number of MPs, Reddy said he was sure the council of ministers will have a good number representation from his state.
"Even in the previous cabinet, Andhra Pradesh got important portfolios. But there are exigencies, as this is a UPA government and there are some important allies. Some of them will make stronger demands. I am sure, we will get good portfolios this time also," Reddy said, apparently indicating that he may make demands, just as the DMK has.
The Andhra Pradesh CM also favoured a mix of both experienced MPs and younger MPs to be part of the Central government, instead of having only youngsters as ministers.
On the reasons for his overwhelming victory in the Lok Sabha, but a reduced verdict in the Assembly, Reddy said the factors in the national and state polls could be very different.
Citing examples of two members of his own government losing in the polls, the Andhra CM pointed out that most popular leaders such as Jeevan Reddy and APCC chief D Srinivas had lost the Assembly polls this time, though they had won their respective seats on several occasions before.
He said the Congress was the only party in Andhra Pradesh, which had not promised the moon to the voters in its manifesto.
"We only talked about what we will be able to deliver and the people of the state voted for the most credible party. That is because, we performed well and implemented the programme we promised such as the food-for-work and rural employment schemes," he said.
Reddy promised that his government would implement the new irrigation schemes announced recently within four years instead of the scheduled five. The older irrigation schemes announced three years ago, too, would be completed within time, he added.
