After spending nearly two decades in politics, popular yesteryear actor Roja Selvamani has earned the coveted minister post in Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s Cabinet. She was given the Tourism, Culture and Youth Advancement portfolio. The Cabinet was reshuffled on Sunday, April 10, with 14 new ministers being inducted.
Elated over her elevation as a Cabinet Minister, Roja said, “I am very happy that Jagan Mohan Reddy has inducted me into the Cabinet. The TDP did not want me to be in the Assembly, but Jagan had made an MLA twice and today he has made me a minister too. I am thankful to him for this. I will work to bring fame to this government and my family by using this opportunity.”
The actor, who is known for her aggressive style of politics, often resorting to foul language and making controversial statements, has struggled for a long time to make it to the Cabinet. Roja made her film debut with the Telugu film Prema Thapassu in 1991. She then went on to act with south Indian superstars like Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Rajinikanth, Mammooty and several others.
However, she had a poor political outing until 2014, thereby earning the tag of ‘Iron leg’ (a term used to describe a person who brings bad luck to the party) in political circles. A streak of unfortunate incidents that had affected her political career and the party she was affiliated with were used as weapons against her by her critics.
Initially, Roja had associated with the Telugu Desam Party in 1998 and had campaigned for them. Subsequently she was given the post of TDP Mahila (women’s) wing president. She contested from the Nagari Assembly seat in 2004 on a TDP ticket. However, both she and the party lost the election. From then, on she was considered bad luck. In the subsequent 2009 elections she unsuccessfully contested from the Chandragiri constituency. After a series of failures, she decided to join the Congress party under former Chief Minister and father of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, YS Rajasekhar Reddy. Shortly after, the former Chief Minister died in a tragic chopper crash and put the state into turmoil.
Roja then joined Jagan Mohan Reddy’s newly-formed YSRCP party in 2009 and Jagan was imprisoned in the disproportionate assets case. The incident yet again perpetuated the sentiment of her being an ‘iron leg.’
Ending her losing streak, she won two terms as the legislator from Nagari in both 2014 and 2019. Besides being a legislator, Roja continued to appear in Telugu shows and occasionally in films in supporting roles. However, following the decision to make her a minister, the actor said that she would not appear in Jabardasth, a Telugu comedy show, from now on.
Meanwhile, Jagan’s decision to reshuffle the Cabinet has also been met with protests. Mekathoti Sucharita, the former Home Minister, has announced her resignation from the Assembly after she was not retained in the Cabinet. Sucharita was the lone Dalit minister to be dropped from the cabinet; four other Dalits – P Viswaroop, Taneti Vanitha, Adimalapu Suresh and K Narayana Swamy – were retained in the Cabinet. Supporters of other MLAs who didn't make the Cabinet cut registered their protest by blocking roads and torching vehicles.