 "Chandrababu Naidu")
Andhra Pradesh, like poll-bound Karnataka, has emerged into a political battlefield.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has raised his offensive against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in anticipation of an “imminent attack” from the Centre after the elections in Karnataka are over.
It started as a political slugfest over the issue of special category status for Andhra Pradesh between the opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP), to which Naidu belongs. The latest political rhetoric of Naidu has assumed newer dimensions.
On April 20, Naidu was on a day-long fast over the denial of special category status and other financial help to the state by the Modi government.
Addressing people from the dais at the end of his fast, Naidu, for the first time, said the Centre might target him or others in his government for fighting for the rights of the state.
He wanted the people to look at the tussle as a fight between the Centre and the state and not just as a quarrel between the BJP, the ruling party at the Centre, and the TDP .
Even while the BJP leadership is subtly trying its bit to preclude any adverse impact of the political fight on the voting decisions of the Telugu population in Karnataka, Naidu declared a full-blown war against the Centre on April 25 at Rajahmundry, terming Governor E S L Narasimhan, who met the chief minister soon after his day-long fast, an active player in the conspiracy being hatched by the Centre against him. He also appealed to the people of the state to form a protective wall around him in the case of any attack by the Centre.
“It is your responsibility to protect me as I am fighting for your cause,” Naidu told people in Rajahmundry while warning the Centre that his moves would solely depend on how it dealt with him.
Local newspapers carried reports suggesting that the governor had met the chief minister to tell him not to take a confrontational stand. Continuing his tirade against the Centre, Naidu accused Modi and BJP President Amit Shah of uniting his political opponents in the state to defeat the TDP in the next elections.
The governor had to cut short his New Delhi visit on April 25 without formally meeting Modi or Home Minister Rajnath Singh to update them on the situation in the state and Telangana following Naidu’s attack, which included the accusation that actor-politician Pavan Kalyan turned against Naidu after a meeting with the governor in March.
“It is apparent that Naidu attacked Modi to preempt any move by the Centre to target him. It is being widely speculated that either his son Lokesh or his close aide Murali Mohan could face enquiry by the Central investigative agencies after the Karnataka elections,” D A R Subrahmanaym, a political analyst and former principal of Mahatma Gandhi College in Guntur, told Business Standard.
On his part, Naidu is trying to bunch the opposition YSRCP and the friend-turned foe, Jana Sena President Pavan Kalyan, with the BJP, alleging a secret understanding among the three parties, in a tactical move to position himself as the sole champion in the battle for special category status, a demand that was rejected by the Modi government in 2016.
For some, Naidu's high-pitch Modi bashing has had an effect. Citing the toned-down counter-attack by BJP spokespersons, they say the Centre could be possibly reassessing its moves on its formidable political opponent, who once played a big role in Central politics. Any action that may generate public sympathy for Naidu could prove counter-productive for the BJP leadership as well as the opposition YSRCP, which is hoping to win the next elections in the state. Naidu appears to be playing on this bigger dilemma, according to observers.
The BJP is no force in this rich southern coastal state. On top of this is the issue of special category status, which puts it on the back foot because it was made into a highly emotive issue by parties in the state. However, the BJP leadership is going ahead with its efforts to deal with Andhra politics in its own way.
