In a surprising development, a strong demand for giving the ministerial post to Nandamuri Bala Krishna, brother-in-law of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and father-in-law of key minister Nara Lokesh, has surfaced from Hindupur constituency, from where he has been winning to the assembly for three-consecutive terms.
This demand has been creating political rows among TDP circles. Moreover, the positive response from Bala Krishna is attracting attention among political circles. He simply responded stating that the ministerial post will come when needed and that patience should be exercised.
Apart from using him for campaigning during elections, there is no record of Bala Krishna interfering in the affairs of TDP or government. When the party workers were shocked by Chandrababu Naidu’s arrest, he went to the TDP headquarters in Mangalagiri and announced he would tour the districts to instill morale in the party workers.
However, it is understood that he has remained silent after receiving a signal from Chandrababu, who was in jail directing not to interfere in the party’s affairs. Later, the demand from the party ranks that Bala Krishna’s daughter and Lokesh’s wife Brahmani should undertake district tours was also ignored. Finally, it is noteworthy that Nara Bhuvaneswari took up the district tours.
In this context, the issue of Bala Krishna’s ministerial post coming to the fore is creating a political stir. He inaugurated additional rooms at the D Basavanapalli Zilla Parishad School and BT Road by cutting the ribbon. After the BT Road inauguration, TDP workers and fans suddenly blocked Balayya’s convoy and shouted slogans demanding that MLA Balakrishna take the ministerial post.
They also displayed placards with slogans. Balayya responded immediately and told his fans that the ministerial post would come when needed. He asked them to be patient. It is an open secret among TDP circles that Bala Krishna had shown interest to join the cabinet during the earlier stint of Chandrababu Naidu as Chief Minister.
But, suddenly Nara Lokesh was brought into the cabinet, which was opposed by him cautioning that directly bringing him into cabinet without political experience would damage his reputation. Ultimately, during the initial years he was proved correct.