Naidu’s fight politically motivated: Haribabu

BJP State president and Visakhapatnam MP K. Haribabu said the TDP’s snapping of ties with his party was clearly part of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s political strategy but not an act of fighting the injustice purportedly meted out by the Central government to Andhra Pradesh.

In fact, Mr. Naidu’s meeting with Congress leaders in New Delhi and the dialogue opened by his party MPs with Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjuna Kharge gave rise to the suspicion that the parties had a secret understanding to trouble the BJP-led NDA.

‘Tradition broken’

Releasing an open letter on the Central assistance to the State at a press conference here on Sunday, Mr. Haribabu said Mr. Naidu projected only one side of the picture in the Legislative Assembly and the Council and continued to spread canards against the Centre wherever he went, to derive mileage out of it.Unfortunately, the CM went to the extent of criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Singapore. By doing so, Mr. Naidu broke the tradition of respecting the PM on foreign soil, thereby lowered the prestige of the nation.

Mr. Haribabu pointed out that it was Mr. Naidu who reverted to his original demand that the Central government should give Special Category status to A.P. after agreeing to the special financial assistance, in pursuance of his political ambitions.

The Centre kept disbursing funds and when it realised that things got delayed, the then Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs and Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu took upon himself the task of fulfilling the needs of the State.

By exiting the NDA, Mr. Naidu raked up an unnecessary controversy which did not augur well for the State. Mr. Haribabu said it is foolish to label YSRCP MPs’ meeting with Mr. Modi as furthering their personal agenda and denied that the BJP had struck a chord with the YSRCP.