If the Telugu Desam Party is also fighting with the Centre for special category status to Andhra Pradesh, it should have supported the bandh call given by the Opposition parties on Tuesday. Instead, the Chandrababu Naidu government used police forces to foil the bandh.
“This clearly shows that Naidu was not interested in achieving special status to Andhra Pradesh. Instead, he was trying to impress the Narendra Modi government by foiling the bandh,” YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy said.
“When the bandh in state is for special status why should Chandrababu Naidu misuse police force which has shown its ugly face by arrests and lathi-charge and not a single TDP member had participated in the bandh which shows the Chief Minister’s intention,” he asked.
He said the response to the bandh call was huge despite the efforts of the State government to foil it.
“It is not just against the Centre that we are fighting but unfortunately we have been fighting against the TDP government as well which has been trying to foil the bandh and Chandrababu Naidu who has been watering down the issue," he told reporters on Tuesday.
“Chandrababu Naidu failed to broach the issue with the Prime Minister then and was always telling that special status is not a wonder drug which solves all the problems.
"When our Party gained the upper hand in voicing the concern of the people, he resorted to theatrics with his party MPs showing meek protests in the parliament while in the state Chandrababu Naidu trying to put down the bandh with an iron hand using force and beating up those demanding special status,” he alleged.
