Chandrababu Naidu comes down heavily on BJP

Amaravati: In an unusual act, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday launched a scathing attack on the BJP for failing to fulfil the commitments made to the state. Speaking in the Assembly on the injustice meted to the state, Naidu said the Centre had insulted the people of the state in every respect. It perhaps thinks Telugu people have no masculinity.

"Do you think Telugus have no masculinity," Naidu asked in an angry tone while speaking in the Assembly over the Centre not fulfilling the commitments made to the state, including grant of special category status. Naidu’s outburst came immediately after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vishnu Kumar Raju for his claim that the Modi government had done more for the state than what it had promised.

Naidu, also the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president, challenged Raju to show what the Centre had given to the state. Naidu asked the BJP leader to compare the assistance provided to Andhra Pradesh with the funds given to Gujarat and other states. The Chief Minister told the BJP leader that he is not fit to be a public representative. He also said that the speech of Raju appeared as if he was defending the YSRCP in every respect.

The YSRCP leaders draw the salary every month and all benefits but they do not attend the assembly. That is the respect they have for democracy and the BJP was supporting them, he said. Naidu, who was wearing black shirt to protest the Centre's "unjust attitude" toward the state, said for the first time in his four decades of political career he had come to Assembly in a black shirt and vowed to continue the fight for justice.

"We are not going to rest. We will not allow BJP leaders to move around," the TDP chief warned. He demanded to know what development south India achieved during BJP rule.Naidu said M Venkaiah Naidu was a Union minister who was helping the south but because of 'their' anger he was made the Vice-President. "Only God knows whether this was a promotion or punishment for him," he added.