Panaji, Nov 10 (IANS): A day after union minister Shripad Yesso Naik was demoted of sorts in the Council of Ministers during Sunday's expansion-cum-reshuffle, his son expressed outrage on social network site Facebook -- attracting support ads well as criticism.

Naik, who was union minister of state with independent charge of tourism and culture ministries, was shifted as minister of state for health and family welfare and minister of state with independent charge for the newly-formed Ayush (ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and homeopathy) ministry.

"Straight trees are cut first - feeling frustrated," Siddesh Naik said Monday in his post, which in turn has attracted responses from across the political spectrum and civil society. Siddesh is also a member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's executive committee, according to the youth organisation's website.

"It's very shocking for me. Bhau (as Shripad Naik is fondly referred to) should have been first cabinet minister from Goa," says Johnson D'Silva from Aldona, so does Kedar Toradkar a programme co-ordinator at a city college who has commented: "Felt truly sad... Of all the people, certainly should not have been Bhau."

The taking away of Naik's tourism portfolio would be seen as a setback for Goa, one of the top beach tourism destinations in the country. But 62-year-old Naik has also had a track record of being a voyager even in the Atal Behari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) cabinet, when he was shifted as union minister of state from the agriculture, shipping, civil aviation, road transport and highways and finance ministries -- all between 2000 and 2004.

The transfer of the more high-profile portfolio of tourism from Naik could also be a result of former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar's elevation as defence minister. This is the first time that Goa has two representatives in the union ministry.

The Parrikar-Naik duo has been the face of the party in Goa, with the former known for his political acumen and the latter for being a darling of BJP's Hindu votebank.

But that did not stop politicians like BJP Goa legislator Vishnu Wagh from chiding Naik's son. "We have to learn to be crooked," said Wagh, who represents St. Andre constituency.

Congress leaders too appear to be laughing over Siddhesh's imagery-laden predicament about upright trees.

"Its trimmed for now... may be cut in future... very sad," said Amarnath Panjikar of the Congress.