Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Monday appealed to all Telugu people living in Karnataka to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, ANI reported. Naidu claimed the BJP had resorted to “collusion politics and conspiracies” in the state.
Karnataka will vote on May 12, and the results will be announced on May 15.
The Telugu Desam Party pulled out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in March and moved a no-confidence motion against the Centre for failing to grant Andhra Pradesh special category status.
At a public meeting organised by the Telugu Desam Party in Tirupati, Naidu played videos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi praising him, and alleged that Modi had failed to fulfil the promise he made in front of Lord Venkateshwara to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh, IANS reported. The meeting was organised at the Sri Venkateswara University Grounds, where Modi had made a speech in 2014.
Naidu also played another clip of Modi during the 2014 General Elections, in which he purportedly said if he came to power, the Centre would build a city in Andhra Pradesh that was better than New Delhi. “Is it not betrayal,” Naidu repeatedly asked the gathering after showing them the clips.
“Is it wrong to demand Narendra Modi to fulfil his promises?” Naidu said according to ANI. “He promised to build a capital better than Delhi but gave only Rs 1,500 crore to Amaravati while Rs 2,500 crore was provided to build the [Sardar Patel] statue in Gujarat.” The Andhra Pradesh chief minister also accused Modi of “colluding with a corrupt party” without naming it.
Andhra Pradesh BJP MLCs Somu Veerraju and PVN Madhav had on Sunday accused Naidu of “mudslinging” and “spreading lies”, claiming that Modi had never promised special category status to the state, The Hindu reported. They also alleged that the TDP had “morphed” the video clips of Modi to suit its political agenda.
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