No sense of belonging in Hyderabad: Ashok Gajapati

New Delhi: Despite enjoying the majority on its own in the Parliament, Bharatiya Janata Party does not discriminate against the representatives of the pre-poll allies in the Union Cabinet.

All ministers are treated equally, asserts P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, the Civil Aviation Minister and the sole representative of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the Narendra Modi cabinet.

Union Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju defends Naidu's decision to take oath in Guntur; says bifurcation was like a delicate surgery done by a butcher

The senior TDP leader is a busy man these days, trying to understand the pressing issues facing his ministry while also drawing a roadmap for the future.

With a hard taskmaster like Modi at the top, there is no time to waste but Raju is categorical that ministers of NDA partners are getting equal weightage in the government as those from the BJP. In an interview, just ahead of the TDP assuming power in Andhra Pradesh, Ashok Gajapathi Raju shares his vision about the ministry and the current politics in Andhra-Telangana.

Excerpts:

PM Narendra Modi has asked all his cabinet colleagues to draw up a 100-day agenda. So what would be the priorities for your ministry in the next 100 days?

I believe that the previous regime did not work in a scientific way at all. I would like to reiterate that we are committed to connectivity. While commercial sustainability is important, we have a social responsibility to widen air connectivity and help the people in neglected and backward areas.

Therefore, we are working out ways and means to ensure the same. Members of Parliament from all over the country are also giving us various suggestions and I am impressed by the richness and wide range of the requests. We are trying to work on them as well.

What is the attitude of the PM and the BJP towards ministers from alliance parties such as yours considering the fact that the BJP has achieved majority on its own?

I have found no difference in the treatment towards alliance partners and the BJP. In fact, pre-poll alliance parties are enjoying an equal status in the Modi government. There is no discrimination of any kind at any level.

Some sections have raised fears of hounding and witch-hunting against your rivals like the YSRCP? Your comment on that...

I do not think anyone will hound anyone in the kind of regime which will be headed by our leader N Chandrababu Naidu. Let me remind you that former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy had warned the then leader of opposition (Naidu) in the Assembly in the kind of language which was extremely unparliamentary both in language and spirit. But TDP is not so parochial. We have a national outlook.

Now that the State has been bifurcated, what kind of a relationship do you foresee with the new State of Telangana and the government headed by K Chandrashekhar Rao?

We believe that the bifurcation was implemented in the manner of a delicate surgery performed with a butcher's hand. There was a proposal to extend the appointed date (June 2) so that both the Chief Ministers could sit down and work things out. But KCR is a man in a great hurry. A lot of issues still remain unresolved.

However, we believe that even the trickiest issues can be sorted with discussion and we hope to have a good working relationship with the government of Telangana.

Why has N Chandrababu Naidu chosen to take his oath in Guntur?

It was felt that the sense of belonging with the new State would not be reflected if our government took oath in Hyderabad.