Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu
FOLLOWING THE resignation of the TDP’s ministers in the NDA government at the Centre, the two BJP ministers in the N Chandrababu Naidu Cabinet resigned from their posts on Thursday.Health and Medical Education minister Kamineni Srinivas, who submitted his resignation letter along with Endowments Minister P Manikyala Rao, to the chief minister said that as the TDP’s ministers in NDA have resigned, they also decided to resign from the state government.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the two ministers and other two MLAs — P Vishnu Kumar Raju from Visakhapatnam North and Dr Akula Satyanarayana from Rajamudry City — bore the brunt of TDP anger in the Assembly, with Chief Minister Naidu and his party members pointing fingers at them and picking on them repeatedly while blaming their party for not doing enough for Andhra Pradesh. “They are treating us like enemies. They are forgetting that we are also from Andhra Pradesh and equally want the welfare of this state. We are being seen as villains in this entire plot,” Manikyala Rao told The Indian Express.
“It is a painful decision. This should not have happened like this. The sentiments of the people are important and people feel that Special Category Status is Andhra Pradesh’s right. Our commitment is to the development of the state. My colleague Manikyala Rao and I have submitted our resignations as per party’s wish,” Srinivas said.
Manikyala Rao said he was pained by the way certain political leaders, including those from the TDP, were blaming Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, a former BJP leader, also. “Venkaiah Naidu did a lot of things for Andhra after the bifurcation. He was the one who put his foot down and ensured that Andhra got a number of institutions and projects after bifurcation. He sanctioned housing and urban development scheme when he was central minister. He got funds released immediately for Amaravati. Such a person is being accused and blamed today. That is not acceptable,” he said.
Ahead of the 2014 elections, the TDP entered an alliance with the BJP in the face of stiff competition from YSR Congress Party led by Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. The alliance largely helped TDP scrape through to victory with a two per cent margin over YSRCP. The BJP won four Assembly and two Lok Sabha seats.
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