Insulting Nayee Brahmins Will Cost Chandrababu Dear

Kommineni Srinivasa Rao

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s style of functioning is getting curiouser and curiouser with every passing hour. The latest we hear from him is that the state secretariat is a hallowed place, a temple and that nobody should enter its sacred precincts. He did not stop with that. “Is this a fish market? I will punish you,” he wagged his finger at members of the Nayee Brahmin BC community when he spoke to them in a visibly irritated tone. A chief minister is a servant of the people and not someone who lords over them. Can a chief minister consider himself to be a deity and ask people not to enter the sacred Secretariat? He should, in fact, earn the admiration of the common people who should treat him as someone worthy of great respect.

A Secretariat is a nodal place for the people related to their issues, officially speaking. Anyone can go there for the resolution of their problems. Chandrababu Naidu seems to have a different take on this. He has once again belittled the BC communities. If Nayee Brahmins feel offended by his behaviour, they are justified. One does not know about the Secretariat, but Nayee Brahmins always stay in the presence of the Lord in temples and serve Him. They also happen to be temple musicians. They tonsure the hair of pilgrims which is offered in temples.

For Chandrababu to ask Nayee Brahmins not to step into the secretariat is unpardonable. In truth, representatives of the Nayee Brahmin community did not go to the secretariat on their own, but were invited by the deputy chief minister KE Krishna Murthy. Their talks with him proved fruitless. Moreover, it is widely known that KE Krishna Murthy is more of a dummy Deputy CM or a puppet rather. The fact that the deputy CM admitted that the problem could be resolved only through the intervention of the chief minister shows the authoritarian manner in which Chandrababu Naidu functions with a single power centre.

Krishna Murthy, who belongs to the BC community, swallowed his pride and admitted this which is a reflection of Chandrababu Naidu's authoritarian ways. While KE Krishna Murthy may think that it is okay to let go of his pride, why should the Nayee Brahmins compromise on their dignity? Why should they be at the receiving end of Chandrababu's ire?

Also Read: Be Careful: Chandrababu Warns Nayee Brahmins

Analysts say that there has been a marked change in the AP chief minister's behaviour in recent times. He seems to have realised soon and though he held talks that very evening, the damage was done. No matter how much the pro-Telugu Desam media tried to underplay the episode, the matter had gone viral. As it is, BC Communities are up in arms against Chandrababu Naidu.

The incident involving Chandrababu's severe admonition of the fishermen in Visakhapatnam is still fresh in everyone's mind. He further added insult to injury by writing a letter stating that certain BC lawyers were incompetent and hence ineligible to become judges.

Against this backdrop, we find the AP chief minister warning the Nayee Brahmins to 'be careful' amounts to rubbing salt into their fresh wounds. The resolution of the problem has now become a secondary issue with the chief minister's behaviour assuming primacy. If indeed the secretariat is such a hallowed place as Chandrababu makes it out to be now, why did TDP MLAs and workers stage protests in the undivided state of Andhra Pradesh. Chandrababu Naidu now takes serious objection to protesters blocking his convoy conveniently forgetting numerous occasions on which he and his party workers had indulged in similar activities in the past.

Old-timers remember how a TDP worker, Amarnath tried to block former chief minister Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy's convoy. When it comes to protesting against other governments, TDP and its leader claim that it's their right to do so, while issuing warnings when others agitate against them.

Chandrababu brags in his speeches that they had staged protests in front of PM Modi's house, but cautions those who do so in front of his residence. Chandababu and his TDP want all democratic rights for themselves, but would like to rule with an iron hand as events reveal with every passing day. It remains to be seen how the people of Andhra Pradesh will deal with Chandrababu's antics.