Andhra Pradesh Information Technology Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national general secretary Nara Lokesh is trying out every possible tool to make the voice of Andhra Pradesh people heard by the Modi Government, accused of depriving the State of its right of Special Category Status (SCS).
The latest tool he has laid his hand on is Gandhigiri. In a fresh salvo fired at Mr. Modi through his Twitter handle, Mr. Lokesh said: “Hello @narendramodi Ji. Mailed you a love letter on behalf of 5 crore people of Andhra Pradesh. Please do open it Sir. I am sure I’ll find it back in the garbage bin of Raisina Hill after you throw it away. But at least think for a second the promises you made when you were here.”
Not stopping at it, Mr. Lokesh’s next tweet, addressing people of Andhra Pradesh, said: “I sent a post card to @narendramodi Ji requesting him to grant Special Status to AP. You can also send a post card to him, take a picture and upload on FB / Twitter / Insta. Also add #ToPMWithLove”
Bifurcation was bad enough for people of Andhra Pradesh who were down and out by the harsh blow.
Mr. Modi’s tweet on June 2 greeting people of the State on June 2, the date on which Telangana State was carved out leaving Andhra Pradesh high and dry, has just rubbed salt into the division wound.
Reacting sharply to it, the young Minister sought to remind the Prime Minister that the wounds of the people of Andhra Pradesh are still fresh and as a proof, he attached screen shots of angry retorts to the PM’s tweet.
BJP hits back
Hitting back at the Nara scion, BJP MLC P.V.N. Madhav called it ‘diversionary tactics’ of the TDP. “Mr. Lokesh is speaking out of frustration as he has miserably failed to fulfil the promise he made to the people to generate jobs for every household. Remember TDP’s slogan ‘Babu osthe job osthadi’(jobs will be created if Babu comes to power). And what about the promised unemployment allowance which apparently now is restricted to only people below 35 years of age. What about the remaining population of the unemployed in the State,” he questioned.
He said the TDP was answerable to the people of the State for its failure on all fronts.