Chandrababu Using Warrant For Cheap Publicity

Kommineni Srinivasa Rao

The leaders of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) are creating a fuss over the non-bailable warrant given to AP CM Chandrababu Naidu by the Dharmabad Court for the alleged violation of law & order in the TDP's protest against the construction of Babli project in 2010. The TDP leaders claim that the Court notices are a doing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But, had it been a leader from some other party in place of Chandrababu, the TDP would have projected the case as if the leader had committed a henious crime. "How dare the Courts send notices to Chandrababu?" the TDP leaders would have cried. Although this kind of attitude is surprising, it is Chandrababu's way of functioning.

When Chandrababu is in power, he would try his best to divert the public's attention in the government's favour with the help of his yellow media. Bharatiya Janata Party AP unit President Kanna Lakshmi Narayana revealed certain interesting facts about Chandrababu's case in the Babli project issue. Chandrababu, along with 13 other TDP leaders, have in the past 3 years skipped as many as 22 Court notices. The BJP leaders asked what was wrong with the Court's notices to the prime accused. He added that the TDP leaders were trying to stage a political drama using the warrant.

Interestingly, the TDP leaders are complaining that the Court case was filed even though they were fighting for justice. As a matter of fact, hundreds of cases have been filed against several Opposition leaders since TDP came to power in 2014, in the fight for Special Category Status. Many of them are still attending the Court, while some of them have already proven themselves innocent in their respective cases. Yet, the TDP leaders condemn the Court notices to the AP CM.

One wonders how the TDP leaders would react if a Court issues notice to Chandrababu in a case of larger significance, keeping in view the fact that the ruling party leaders are intolerant towards legal action in such a small case.

Chandrababu has a supporter in actor Sivaji, who is now alleging that the Court notice was a part of a plan to oust Chandrababu from power. With just eight months to go for elections, it needs strong reasons against Chandrababu to rattle the government's foundations. By saying that the Court notice was a plan to oust Chandrababu from power, is Sivaji implying to suggest that the government's functioning is so poor that it has to be knocked down?

If otherwise, Sivaji clearly has forgotten the fact that Chandrababu bought 23 MLAs from the YSR Congress party like a farmer would purchase cattle.

When was the case filed against Chandrababu? It was back in 2010 when Chandrababu tried to save his face by pretending to carry out a protest, while the leaders of TRS and BJP were preparing for the bye-elections, a result of resignations to the MLA posts as part of the Telangana agitation. Since the TDP leaders were not confident of winning the bye-elections, they brought up the Babli project issue into limelight.

The case was filed by the then Congress government in Maharashtra against 14 TDP leaders, including Chandrababu. It is the same Congress party that the TDP is getting ready to join hands with for the Telangana Assembly elections. Instead of attacking the Congress, the TDP leaders are trying to gain sympathy by blaming it on the BJP and TRS. A former minister went one step ahead and accused the TRS of forcing the issuance of Court notice fearing the Congress-TDP grand alliance.

According to the gravity of various cases, the Court proceedings would unfold. Telangana ministers KTR, Nayini Narasimha Reddy and Etela Rajender have until recently attended every hearing of their case in the Railway Court. The case was filed against their involvement in rail-roko programs during the Telangana agitation. The cases against the ministers have been cancelled only very recently.

YSRCP leader Bhumana Karunakar Reddy too got relief from a case that was filed as part of the party's fight for SCS. Unlike Chandrababu and the other TDP leaders, they did not utter lies to gain public sympathy. If the cases were really planned to fix Chandrababu, there would not be a need to fret and fuss about it. Public sympathy would have been with Chandrababu by default.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao could not take action against Chandrababu in the vote for note case. To believe that the two leaders would target Chandrababu in such a small case would not be wise.

However, it has to be noted that former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharati was accused in a case in Karnataka. The case was so troublesome to her that she eventually had to lose her Chief Ministerial post. Popular opinion has it that Chandrababu would not face such a situation in this case.

The charge against Chandrababu was that a group of TDP leaders attacked the police during the Babli protest. The TDP leaders, in turn, claimed that it was the police who attacked them. The then Chief Minister of erstwhile AP K Rosaiah airlifted the TDP leaders back to Hyderabad from the Babli project.

Gangula Kamalakar, former TDP MLA and currently TRS MLA from Karimnagar, was also involved in the case. He was also named in the notice. The TRS MLA ridiculed the TDP leaders saying that Chandrababu was trying to use the warrant for publicity.

Time alone would tell whether the case would be a tool for Chandrababu's cheap publicity or not.

Also Read: If Chandabrabu Doesn’t Stop Scheming Against Telangana, People Will Drive Him Away: TRS MP