The unrest among the senior party leaders in the Telugu Desam Party that erupted following denial of cabinet berths in the recent expansion by party president N Chandrababu Naidu continues to go unabated.
Though Naidu initially threatened to take serious action against the dissidents if they speak up in public, he decided against it and preferred to ignore the dissidence.
However, seniors continue to sulk and refuse to take active part in the party activities. Some of them are openly criticising Naidu without any fear of being sacked from the party.
Former minister K Ramasubba Reddy from Jammalamadugu has been openly critical of Naidu for accommodating his bitter rival C Adinarayan Reddy in the cabinet.
On Saturday, Ramasubba Reddy met Naidu and reportedly told him that he would have to go by the wishes of his followers and the party was in a shambles after the cabinet expansion.
Other senior MLAs Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary, Chintamaneni Prabhakar, Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy, Goutu Shyamsundar Sivaji and Dhulipalla Narendra have been sulking over the “injustice” meted out to them with followers openly criticizing the party leadership.
So far, Naidu has not interacted with them to pacify them, though a couple of them said they would continue with the TDP. None of them, except Peethala Sujatha, met the Chief Minister so far.
The real trouble will begin for Naidu in the election year. So, “in front, there is crocodile festival” for Naidu!
