Chandrababu Naidu’s Forked Tongue

By Kommineni Srinivasa Rao

How did the division of Andhra Pradesh come about? Who were the people who said that the bifurcation of the state had to take place and was inevitable? It appears as though Chandrababu Naidu thinks that people have already forgotten these things.

Chandrababu Naidu has been making wild allegations against AP Leader of the Opposition YS Jagan Mohan Reddy conveniently forgetting that it was Naidu who had given a letter supporting the creation of a separate Telangana on more than one occasion. In his waking and sleeping hours, it appears as if Chandrababu Naidu can only think of YS Jagan. His irrelevant criticism of YS Jagan reflects this. For the most part, his criticism has no context or substance.

Kiran Kumar Reddy back then, was a loyalist of the Congress high command. He declared that he would stand by the diktats of the high command and over a period of time began defying the party high command. He set up his own party, which proved to be a costly political lapse. With YS Jagan launching the YSRCP, the Congress high command along with the TDP, which was in opposition at that time, framed him in cases and what is worse is that they came together to send YS Jagan to jail in the most diabolical manner possible. Of course, it is widely known that Sonia Gandhi was behind the entire plot to frame YS Jagan.

Chandrababu Naidu offers the queer argument that while being in prison, YS Jagan conspired with Sonia Gandhi to bring about the division of the state. This alone would suffice to show the levels to which Chandrababu Naidu can stoop to further his own selfish ends. It may be recalled that Kiran Kumar Reddy had sent word to Chandrababu Naidu through TDP MLAs at that time cautioning him against giving a letter supporting the bifurcation of the state for the second time. However, ignoring Kiran Kumar Reddy's message, Chandrababu Naidu went ahead and gave the letter backing the division of the state. This clearly demonstrates that he supported the bifurcation of AP on more than one occasion.

Once the bifurcation of the state became inevitable, Chandrababu Naidu changed his tune. He started saying that the division of AP could be effected only if people from Andhra agreed to it. By the same token, he said that people of Telangana should agree to live in an undivided Andhra Pradesh? Is there any political wisdom or maturity in this argument which defies logic? Having said all this, did he say he would withdraw his letter supporting the creation of Telangana? While touring Telangana, he claimed that it was his letter of support to the bifurcation of the state that made Telangana possible. In Andhra, he did a 360 degree turn blaming Sonia Gandhi for the injustice done to the state. It is the headiness that comes with power which is making Chandrababu Naidu say the things he has been saying.

Led by YS Jagan, YSRCP articulated its stand clearly and unambiguously--it said that a decision should be taken under Article 3 of the Constitution and later in unequivocal terms, it stated that the party was firm on its stand for a united Andhra Pradesh. Since Chandrababu Naidu did not display a minimal measure of honesty and commitment he naturally became a target of criticism. This drives him to attempt to make political capital out of issues related to the bifurcation of the state. In the final analysis, baseless criticism of the opposition will not pay Chandrababu Naidu any political dividends in the long run, one has to say.