Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to go on a day-long fast on April 12 was a tactic to divert attention from his failure to address important issues, the Hindustan Times reported. Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party National President Amit Shah will fast on Thursday to protest the deadlock in Parliament during the Budget Session.
“This is ridiculous and an attempt to run away from the crucial issues raised by the Opposition parties in the just-concluded Parliament session,” Naidu told the media on the sidelines of a dinner hosted for delegates attending the three-day Happy Cities Summit in Amaravati. The Telugu Desam Party, which Naidu leads, has pulled out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance after the Centre refused to grant Andhra Pradesh special category status.
On Tuesday, the TDP chief alleged that the NDA backed the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, whose MPs stalled Lok Sabha proceedings demanding that the Cauvery Water Management Board be set up. Naidu said the NDA had backed the AIADMK MPs to avoid facing the TDP’s no-confidence motion in Parliament.
“The Supreme Court ordered that the Cauvery board be constituted, and the Centre could have done it to resolve the decades-long dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,” Naidu said. “Who stopped Modi from doing it?”
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also took a jibe at Modi for his planned fast. “Now that’s really cute, just a one-day fast....against himself,” the Aam Aadmi Party leader tweeted.
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