Naidu faces rebellion within

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, May 24

Less than one year into government, the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh is witnessing sharp differences among its top leadership over the alleged neglect of certain districts in terms of implementing development schemes.

Deputy Chief Minister KE Krishnamurthy has fired a salvo against Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for giving “preferential treatment” to the prosperous coastal region at the cost of the backward Rayalaseema region.

Krishnamurthy, a senior Backward Class leader from the faction-ridden Kurnool district in Rayalaseema region, alleged that his district was being meted out a raw deal in terms of development schemes apparently because the ruling party did not perform well there in the 2014 General Election. The septuagenarian leader’s remarks, made during a party meeting in his home district, created flutter in political circles.

This is not the first time that the party veteran is at loggerheads with the leadership. In June 2013, he had threatened to quit the party if it failed to nominate him for the post of the chairmanship of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in the combined state. A six-time MLA representing Pathikonda Assembly constituency, Krishnamurthy is reportedly unhappy over “undue attention” being given to the development of coastal region post-bifurcation.

The residuary AP is building a new capital city, Amaravathi, in the Vijayawada-Guntur region, a prosperous coastal belt.

“The Chief Minister is neglecting Kurnool district as the TDP could not win many seats in the district. He is giving special treatment to West Godavari district where the party won all the seats,” Krishnamurthy alleged.

The TDP could win only three out of 14 seats in Kurnool district in the last Assembly elections. “It is not our fault. The main cause for the poor show was the party leadership’s decision to field Congress leaders who had defected to the TDP in the last minute. They lost elections because of the anti-incumbency factor,” the Deputy CM said.

He asked the Chief Minister to give high priority for completion of pending irrigation projects in the backward Kurnool district. He also took a dig at the party leadership for appointing Shilpa Chakrapani Reddy as the new head of the TDP’s Kurnool unit.

“Shilpa Reddy does not even know the geography of the district,” he remarked. The veteran leader also expressed disappointment over the choice of K Atchannaidu as the in charge minister of the district.

The Chief Minister Naidu brushed aside the charge of “preferential treatment” and said, “What is wrong with it? As the head of a party, it is my duty to develop those districts where people have given us a clear mandate to run the government.

“I am challenging all those politicians who are questioning my decisions to come for a debate on development works that my government has undertaken in Kurnool district,” Naidu said.