Former minister and key YSRCP leader Dharmana Prasada Rao’s comments against his own party and the government are creating quite a sensation in the party circles. Dharmana, a diehard party loyalist who stayed with Jagan through thick and thin, has said that the delay in paying the contractors and the low bidding prices are causing huge losses to government contractors.
At a time when the cement and iron costs have gone up, the government is persisting with the old rates. Due to this, the contractors were suffering huge losses. He further said that the officials were not giving the correct information to the government. As a result, the government was getting a bad name, he said. He blamed the officials for the whole problem.
Sources say Dharmana is a disgruntled man as he has not succeeded in finding a pace in the Jagan cabinet. Despite Dharmana’s seniority, Jagan chose Dharmana’s brother Krishna Das as the minister. As a result, Dharmana feels ignored and marginalized. A frustrated Dharmana has of late been making comments that would cause confusion in the party. He made similar comments at a book release function and these comments left the government red-faced.
However, Dharmana may not after all be made a minister this time too. If sources are to be believed, YS Jagan is mulling the idea of making Dharamana Prasada Rao the speaker of the AP Legislative assembly. Jagan wants to make present speaker Tammineni Sitaram a minister. He reportedly wants Dharmana to take his place.
