Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], April 11 (ANI): Slamming the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy over representation of the backward classes in his new cabinet, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) called him a "betrayer of backward classes."

TDP state president K Atchannaidu said the Chief Minister gave just 10 Ministers to the backward classes though his party won 151 MLA seats. "Whereas, the TDP gave nine ministers to the backward classes despite the TDP winning a far lesser number of 103 MLAs. Chandrababu Naidu gave representation to 19 backward class castes in the Assembly."

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Hitting out at Reddy over benefits to the backward classes, Atchannaidu said that while the TDP "worked like a factory" to create backward class leaders, the Jagan regime "suppressed and betrayed" the backward classes. "Can the YCP leaders come for an open debate on their Government's programmes for the BCs?" he asked.

The state TDP chief demanded the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party ruled government to release a white paper on the welfare benefits and programmes implemented for the backward classes in the past three years.

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In 2019, Reddy formed his cabinet of 24 Ministers with 56 per cent of them from the SC, ST, OBC and minority sections of the society. This time, he increased their representation in the cabinet to 68 per cent. In the previous cabinet, there were 5 SCs, 1 ST, 7 OBCs, 1 minority, and 11 Other castes MLAs as Ministers.

Out of the 11 Ministers retained from the previous cabinet, 4 were from SC, 5 from BC and 2 from Other Category (OC), official sources told ANI. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)