Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi hours before the latter was to hold an election rally in Visakhapatnam on Friday, accusing him of “betraying” and “cheating” the people of the southern state.

“You completed 57 months in the office of Prime Minister. But you failed to soothe the wounds inflicted on the state by the bifurcation. Instead of honouring the sentiments and self-pride of Andhra people, Modi, your deeds and words in the last 57 months added salt to our wounds,” Naidu said in an open letter to the PM.

Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 through the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. For almost a year, the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has been accusing Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of reneging on a promise to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh that would have entitled the state to extra central funds. In March 2018, TDP parted ways with the NDA over the issue.

Naidu on Friday morning attended official programmes dressed in black, registering his protest over the PM’s visit to Visakhapatnam. TDP workers staged black-flag demonstrations in Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and the other parts of the state. The Congress and the Left parties also led parallel protests demanding special status to Andhra Pradesh.

BJP state president Kanna Lakshminarayana dismissed Naidu’s open letter, saying the CM was engaging in a “blame game to cover up his own failures in the last four years and nine months”.

First Published: Mar 01, 2019 23:03 IST