Vizag seer lobbying for cabinet berths?

[Anta Assamey]

It was only the other day that former information minister Perni Venkatramaiah declared at the press conference that chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy would not entertain any “pairavee” (lobbying) for the berths in the new cabinet formation.

However, sources said several ministerial aspirants in the YSR Congress party, have been doing extensive lobbying to bring pressure on the chief minister for the cabinet berths.

Even the ministers in the dissolved cabinet are said to be using all forms of influence on the chief minister.

It is learnt that many of the aspirants, including the former ministers, have approached Visakhapatnam Sarada Peetham seer Sri Swaroopanandendra Saraswati, who is learnt to have fixed the muhurtham for the swearing in ceremony of the new cabinet, to recommend their names to Jagan.

It is a known fact that Saradha peetham seer is very close to the chief minister, who values the former’s words very much.

It is not immediately known how many names he has recommended to Jagan, but he is learnt to have lobbied for Botsa Satyanarayana, Dharmana and Kodali Nani.

Some other aspirants are understood to have performed special pujas, abishekams and homams in various temples.

Another MLC from Rayalaseema region is learnt to have approached a Baba to seek his blessings.

There is another talk that a minister in the previous cabinet has used the influence of a mining baron of Karnataka and managed to ensure that his cabinet berth is safe.

So was the case with two women ministers, who are said to be trying to influence Jagan through his connections in Bengaluru.

In any case, it is strongly believed that Jagan is facing a lot of pulls and pressures from various quarters.

It is turning out to be a tough task in doing the balancing act with caste and regional equations.