Chaiya Promma, who lost his job as deputy agriculture and cooperatives minister in the latest cabinet reshuffle, has warned that stripping him of the cabinet post could cost the ruling Phueu Thai Party its victory in the next poll.
He predicted Pheu Thai may be in for an uphill battle to win House seats in the northeastern constituencies in the next general election.
With him axed from the cabinet, he said there was no one else who could better represent Pheu Thai's northeastern voters than himself in the cabinet.
Despite its unexpected defeat in last year's election against the opposition Move Forward Party (MFP) in the North, Pheu Thai's stronghold, the party managed to beat the MFP with up to 5.11 million votes in the Northeast.
He said it is constituency MPs like himself who worked hard on the ground to secure and maintain a support base in the Northeast so that the list of candidates can capitalise on the party's popularity and become MPs.
Mr Chaiya is a Pheu Thai MP for Nong Bua Lam Phu and one of the party's veteran Isan politicians.
"Don't forget that Pheu Thai has been given a chance by Isan (northeastern) voters many times already. And the question now is what the party has to offer in return for their loyal support?" he said.
Mr Chaiya said the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry is key to resolving problems faced by poor farmers in the Northeast, including a lack of farmland, water shortages and high production costs.
The only way for Pheu Thai to continue winning the hearts and minds of Isan people in the next election is to prove its worth and honour election promises, he said.
When he was deputy agriculture minister, he drew up a plan to develop agricultural industry in the Northeast, with the high-speed train project taking shape and connecting to neighbouring Laos when completed. The rail connectivity could turn the Northeast into Thailand's hub for agricultural industry, supplying products to other countries via the rail link.
"What a shame. I no longer have the opportunity to make this plan a reality," he said.
The MFP, Pheu Thai's chief rival in the North and Northeast, used only a few election campaigning vehicles with a handful of posters and nothing else but still won over Pheu Thai in many constituencies in these regions, he noted.