As the new Narendra Modi dispensation began its second innings in Delhi, a perception took shape in southern India that the region, particularly Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, has been given a raw deal in ministerial berth allocations.
Karnataka has been given three Union ministerial berths in addition to Finance portfolio for Nirmala Sitharaman, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from that state, while one minister each hail from Kerala and Telangana.
Tamil Nadu, which boasted of as many as nine ministers in the UPA-II government in 2009, did not get any representation in Modi 2.0 government.
While the BJP drew a blank this time, its ally AIADMK managed to win one (Theni) seat and the rest (37 Lok Sabha constituencies) went to the kitty of the DMK-Congress combine.
DMK chief M K Stalin said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "slighted" Tamil Nadu by not appointing anyone from the state in the cabinet, since he was "angered" that people did not elect even a single MP from his party.
Congress's TN president K S Alagiri said the exclusion could be only construed as boycott of not only AIADMK but Tamil Nadu as well.
Alleging a raw deal, he said "due to an anti-Modi wave" witnessed during polls, Tamil Nadu has been sidelined.
He said Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar have no links to Tamil people and could not be regarded as representatives of Tamil Nadu.
He wondered what stopped the BJP from naming at least one of its leaders from Tamil Nadu to the Council of Ministers (and elect them to the Rajya Sabha).
Political commentator M Bharat Kumar said while Nirmala Sitharaman was a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka, S Jaishankar was Delhi based.
"They have no links whatsoever to Tamil Nadu as of now. How do you expect them to protect the interests of our state?" he asked.
Analyst Ravindran Duraisamy, however, said it was wrong to say TN been given a raw deal. "Both Sitharaman and Jaishankar hail from Tamil Nadu and they have their roots here."
"AIADMK should have been given (a berth), but we do not know what happened during the talks and what transpired."
Andhra-based political commentator P Naveen said, "Seeing the Modi Cabinet, it appeared as if the Centre did not have any connection with Andhra Pradesh."
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