Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu lost his cool during the discussion on the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act in the state Assembly on Friday. He went to the extent of threatening the BJP MLAs that he will not allow them to move freely in the state if they continue to defend the NDA government at the Centre despite grave injustice done to Andhra Pradesh.
Naidu’s rant came when the BJP floor leader P Vishnu Kumar Raju was reading out the names of the major institutions sanctioned by the Centre for Andhra Pradesh, though not promised in the Reorganisation Act. According to The New Indian Express report, Naidu interrupted him in the mid-way only to vent out his anger. He said that BJP members are still backing BJP ruling Central government without feeling ashamed of the grave injustice done to the State.
According to The New Indian Express report, Naidu lambasted, “Shame on you to speak like this. You have no commitment to the development of the State. You are unfit to be a public representative. If we go on listening, you will put flowers in our ears.”
It seems Naidu is not satisfied with the major institutions that the Centre has sanctioned for the state, so far. He angrily said, “For whose sake will you give? Whose money is that? For a new State, the Centre should give all institutes. Tell me how many institutes are located in Hyderabad, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Compare them. Are you doing tamasha? My blood is boiling. Instead of supporting a new State, it is unfair on your part to speak in such a way.”
When the two BJP MLAs raised an objection, Naidu replied by saying, “who cares for your objection.” Well, that’s arrogance at its peak.
Referring to the Union Budget, Naidu said, “In the initial days, there at least used to be a reference to AP. In this budget, there is not a mention of Andhra Pradesh. Looks like they ultimately want to remove AP from the India map.”
As if all this was not enough, Naidu went on to accuse the NDA government of discriminating with South India when it comes to awarding cabinet berth. Despite being the fact that Nirmala Sitharaman, who comes from Karnataka, is the Defence Minister of the country. He also wondered that whether the decision of making Venkaiah Naidu the Vice-President of nation was a “punishment or promotion”. He alleged that Venkaiah Naidu was removed as Union Minister out of “anger.” He said, “Does anyone from the south have a post (in the Union Cabinet)? Poor Venkaiah Naidu used to be a minister. He used to go round the states. With anger, he was made Vice-President. How jealous! If it is a punishment or promotion, God should know.” He further asked, “Tell me one leader from the south. Is it not part of the country.”
Naidu’s case is a perfect example of ‘Desperate times make you lose your mind.’ He is playing the victim card and accusing the PM Modi and the BJP of vendetta politics. He is doing all this in order to gain the sympathy of public of Andhra Pradesh and by exploiting that sympathy he wants to wrest power again in the state. Earlier, Chandrababu Naidu advocated for a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance. But when other political stakeholders discarded the ‘idea’, he finally formed an opportunistic alliance with the Congress in Telangana assembly only to suffer a humiliating defeat.
Also read: Chandrababu Naidu: The biggest loser of 2019
With elections looming over, Naidu’s statements are suggestive of his desperation and low confidence. With the failure of ‘Mahkutami’, Chandrababu Naidu finds it tough to sustain the anti-incumbency in Andhra Pradesh and further seeks to preserve some political space on the national stage. And that’s why he is making conspiracy theories out of thin air to attack the BJP government at the Centre. Naidu has been continuously blaming the centre for lack of funds and has been at the same time indiscriminately spending funds for building Amravati. He has become the kind of chief minister who continuously frustrates his electorate by blaming the centre for everything. From a promising chief minister that he was, he has become an absolute non-performer.