Telugu Desam boss and AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is making a spectacle out of himself with his insipid presentations. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi seemed to have been disillusioned with Naidu’s rhetoric. Special category status to Andhra Pradesh, release of funds to Polavaram project, compensation of revenue deficit in the budget and his wish list goes on to no end. His demands are, for sure, just and reasonable. Some of them may not fit into the procedural frame work, but one cannot deny the fact that the appeals are baseless and greedy. Nonetheless, the Chief Minister, though not an impressive orator, has never been so much unimpressive and haggard in his approach.
The Chief Minister’s Tuesday’s meeting with Modi is nothing but an attempt to thaw the relations between the TDP and the BJP which are on the rocks lately.
His twelve point presentation may just have been a ploy to lend credence to the portrayal that the TDP is sparing no efforts to convince or coerce the centre into granting the special category status and conceding other demands.
But for sure the relations between the two leaders too apparently haven’t been so cordial that Naidu’s frustrated utterances at the press conference exposed them in full public glare.
His terse remarks that there was no proposal to allot one Rajya Sabha seat to the NDA partner, in response to a query, indicated that the poll arrangement between the two parties too reached a yield point.
Chandrababu Naidu’s inconsistency in his ranting about the special category status at least indicated that he could not evoke a friendly vibe from Modi. At one point in time Naidu said the SCS alone wasn’t a panacea to all the problems of the state, and at another point he said the state could cope with the misery it had inherited on account of bifurcation only with the SCS.
He listed out the states enjoying the SCS and sought to know if they had metamorphosed into the most ideal provinces. Even if the SCS was granted, what would be the benefit the state would derive if the centre did not grant any funds, he asked.
He had to do a lot of explaining that Modi gave him a patient hearing and responded positively to all his requests. However, not a great actor that he is, he could not conceal his fury and tuck his anger between his teeth. He sought to know why he had to beg for alms from the centre. He also could not avoid representing to the Prime Minister about the irrigation projects of Telangana against which YSJagan is sitting in a deeksha at Kurnool.
Naidu’s appeals were no more than a repeat telecast like Hum Saath Saath Hai in Zee TV or Atadu in Maa TV.
Naidu must now reconsider his strategy and dump the topics that are redundant and adopt new way forward and make the centre release more funds for more projects and be truthful to the centre by not claiming credit to some of the centrally sponsored schemes. Else, he would remain the most uninspiring leader of all times, wiping out the glorious image he had earned for himself as the longest Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
Well, Mr. Naidu, now it is for you to act and not speak, sir.
