Chandrababu’s Politics Of Moral Bankruptcy

Of late, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has been making personal remarks of the most derogatory nature against Leader of the Opposition in AP assembly, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. This only shows his rising levels of panic and his deepening desperation. Chandrababu Naidu has been accusing YS Jagan of all kinds of things including the family’s involvement in Former MP and Minister YS Vivekananda Reddy’s murder. In making these baseless allegations, Chandrababu is not only lowering the level of public discourse but is becoming the laughing stock of the people of the state.

It is widely believed that Chandrababu Naidu has a long history of a deep connection with political violence. In fact, he was known to have had a violent past going back to his student days in SV University. His involvement in the murder of Vangaveeti Mohan Ranga is much talked about. More than anyone else, in the history of the politics of the state, it is Chandrababu Naidu who has institutionalized caste politics, political observers say. As analysts point out, no other Chief Minister has promoted or encouraged politics of caste in such a methodical fashion as Chandrababu has. The long term impact of this on the socio-political scene of AP has been enormous.

Chandrababu’s followers such as Denduluru MLA Chintamaneni Prabhakar among others can be cited as examples of ruling class MLAs who exemplify the worst side of TDP. It may be pertinent to recall the words of Dharmavaram MLA Varadapuram Suri who said that if Chandrababu is re-elected there would be blanket permission for murders and violence for six months. As for Chintamaneni, his behavior, his statements on Dalits which attracted widespread criticism and his treatment of lady officer Vanajakshi are all in public domain.

Chandrababu and democracy

Chandrababu Naidu is the anti-thesis of democratic values. Ironically, he speaks of saving democracy and tries to take high moral ground. The TDP supremo conveniently forgets that he had lured 23 YSRCP MLAs into the TDP fold and made four of them cabinet ministers. By what standards is this considered democratic? Does such an individual have the right to talk of saving democracy? Yet Chandrababu does so unabashedly. His many alliances with political parties from BJP to the Congress, not to speak of TDP's secret pacts with entities like Jana Sena will remain as examples of political opportunism.

It must be recalled that Chandrababu was caught red-handed in the infamous Note-for-Vote case in 2015 involving Revanth Reddy who was in the TDP at that time. The whole world saw the aftermath of this case. Chandrababu Naidu fled Hyderabad to take shelter in Amaravati, so to say. In other words, he was forced to leave Hyderabad. Did this savior of democracy think of the interests of the citizens of AP at that time or was he driven by his own selfish political ends? Did Chandrababu not abandon the interests of the people of Andhra when he came away to Amaravati overnight?

Chandrababu And Self-respect Of Andhras

Today Chandrababu is trying to whip up sentiments dividing people of Andhra and Telangana and is making all sorts of wild allegations against Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao. He claims that KCR has teamed up with PM Modi and YS Jagan to harm the interests of the People of AP. These statements are primarily an insult to the intelligence of the people of AP. He only needs to be reminded once again of his sudden shift to Amaravati after the Note-for-Vote case and how in the bargain he bartered away the self-respect of the people of the state. Similarly, in tying up with Jana Sena in a clandestine pact and making wild allegations against KCR, Chandrababu is only bringing discredit to himself and the people of AP. Wasn’t it the TDP chief who strived for an alliance with TRS at the time of Telangana elections? Did he not make the most derogatory remarks about the Congress leadership and then go in for an alliance with the grand old party? Did he not call Sonia Gandhi a Godse of our times? By tying up with the Congress has he not compromised on the Interests of AP as also the self-respect of its people? If anything, Chandrababu has harmed the interests of the state and brought disrepute to it more than any other leader in the past.

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