Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu would have been sitting in the opposition benches in the state assembly had his party not entered into an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014 elections.

This was the observation made by BJP Andhra Pradesh unit president Kanna Lakshminarayana at a meeting of the party leaders held in Guntur on Saturday.

The meeting was held to discuss the arrangements to be made for the visit of Prime Miniter Narendra Modi to Andhra Pradesh on February 10 and 16.

Kanna said it was because of the charisma of Narendra Modi that the TDP could come to power in Andhra Pradesh.

In spite of massive assistance given by the Modi government to the state in the last four years, Naidu was launching the attack on the Prime Minister only for political gains and covering up his failure to run the state, he said.

The BJP president also commented that Naidu was acting like a contractor in the Polavaram project.

“What Naidu running is not a political party, but a drama company,” he alleged.

Meanwhile, the TDP president gave an explanation to his outburst against BJP floor leader in the assembly P Vishnukumar Raju on Friday.

He said he had to speak strongly against Raju only in his anguish to protect interests of the state.

Naidu claimed that he could have done miracles had the Centre supported him. He asked people to teach a fitting lesson to the BJP in the coming elections.

Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is crying foul over the complete neglect of the state in the Union budget.

There was not a single reference to AP in the budget speech read out by Union minister Piyush Goel in Lok Sabha on Friday.

Interacting with party functionaries through teleconference on Saturday, Naidu alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party had betrayed Andhra Pradesh even in the last budget.

“The Central budget has given no relief to the poor, nor did the middle class get any benefit. The EBC income limit was Rs.8 lakh and the income-tax ceiling was raised to Rs 5 lakh. There are many such contradictions even in the IT rebate,” he said.

The States are advised to get NREGA loans although the Centre has yet to pay huge amounts as NREGA arrears. The budget also did not address the unemployment problem, he said.

Naidu claimed that his government had provided employment to 14 lakh in the State and in Kia alone, thousands got jobs.

“We brought automobile, IT and electronic industries to the State and the MSME Parks are generating jobs on a large scale,” he pointed out.

Naidu s observed that Friday was a historic day in State Assembly as almost all MLAs attended the Session in black shirts to protest against the injustice meted out to AP by the Centre. He said never before did the legislators attend Assembly wearing black shirts.

The TDP MPs also demonstrated in Delhi wearing black shirts; the state-wide Joint Action Committee (JAC) bandh was a success and all these were aimed to strongly protest the Centre’s attitude, he stated.

“We should not be complacent and tolerate the injustice done to the State. I thank all those who took part in the protests,” he said.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter and Nizamabad MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha on Saturday resigned from the posts of honourary presidents of several labour unions and organisations.

Kavitha had been serving as honourary president of the Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham (TBGKS), Telangana Electricity Workers’ Union, Anganwadi Teachers and Helpers’ Association and Association of Recognised Schools’ Managements all these days.

She sent her resignation letters to the general secretaries of the respective unions. She said she was unable to spare time for the union activities as she was occupied with other responsibilities.

Interestingly, her resignation comes close on the heels of her cousin and Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao’s resignation from the post of Telangana RTC Workers’ Union president a couple of days ago citing the same reasons.

Following the resignations, media has started finding out whether there was any link between the decisions of Kavitha and Harish Rao in resigning from trade union posts.

Naturally, they would not have resigned from their posts without any instructions from the chief minister.

There is a talk that the KCR government is planning to impose serious curbs on the activities of various trade unions in the coming days to prevent strikes and agitations in the wake of his plans to privatize Singareni Collieries and RTC.

Naturally, KCR would be in an embarrassing position, if his own kin head the union leader posts.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governor E.S.L Narasimhan has always been at the center of political discussions ever since bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh. As the Constitutional Head of both the Telugu States, he has also played the role of a mediator in ironing out differences between the state but also has created them by being close to the Centre.

Despite having a limited role, Narasimhan has been accused of being loyal to the BJP after TDP broke off its ties with NDA and walked out. Simultaneously, he has been extremely positive towards TRS to the extent of plotting against Andhra Pradesh. Several instances and examples have shown his interference in bringing pro-TRS allies together. He is also believed to have brokered a deal between Jana Sena and TRS, despite bitter relations both the parties had earlier. Similarly, he has also been responsible for the most recent tie-up of anti-TDP allies, the TRS and YSR Congress.

His behavior has been questioned by the Opposition party (Congress) in Telangana which has accused him of behaving like a “TRS leader.” In fact, Congress leaders also alleged that Narasimhan is lobbying for the extension of his term at a time when there is speculation that he will be replaced. Incidentally, Narasimhan happens to be the only UPA appointed-person that the BJP has retained for its political gains. Given his nature in meddling with the politics in both Telugu states, he has been double-faced in his approach towards both the states.

On one side, the TRS is believed to have a secret understanding with the BJP at the Centre and hence, recently at the Telangana Assembly session, he had praised the TRS and the BJP for supporting Telangana’s growth. However, in Andhra Pradesh, the ruling TDP government which is up in arms against the BJP government at the Centre compelled Narasimhan to criticize the Centre. In his speech at the start of the Assembly session in Andhra Pradesh, Governor praised AP Government’s development efforts despite not receiving adequate financial assistance and lambasted the Centre for doing injustice to Andhra Pradesh.

Apparently, Narasimhan has been upset about the speech he read out in AP Assembly because he wanted to prove his loyalty to the BJP government. Now, he is also in a dilemma whether he committed a blunder by unnecessarily praising the AP government and showing the TDP in a positive light which might turn out to catalyze BJP’s negative image in Andhra Pradesh. While he has enjoyed his time as the Governor of two Telugu states as a rare honor, he has also put himself in a difficult situation that may come back to bite him later. Looks like his biases got him into trouble!

This is one surprising news that is surfacing. As per hearsay, Mahesh Kathi, the controversial critic, and political activist is keen on contesting MP election from Chittoor on behalf of YSRCP. Sources say that Mahesh is projecting his confidence of winning the election but the party high command is still skeptical considering his financial background. But, the constituency being SC reserved, the requirement of funds will be relatively less, as per some political analysts. While it is sitting MP Shiva Prasad from TDP who may contest from this place again, YSRCP is still in quest of the right candidate.

Grapevine says that some key leaders in YSRCP are seriously considering Mahesh Kathi on the grounds that he can voice out his opinions so strongly accompanied with constitutional and legal knowledge. Some businessmen and leaders are also trying to convince high command by assuring financial support to this candidate. If everything goes well, Mahesh Kathi will start to become an active politician.

On the other hand, there are assumptions that Chinta Mohan, the Congress candidate may jump into YSRCP shortly. If that happens, he will become a competitor for Mahesh Kathi owing to his experience and hold on the constituency. But so far, he didn’t get any invitation from YSRCP high command, as per the sources.

It cannot be forgotten at this juncture that Mahesh Kathi became more popular with his continuous verbal fight with Pawan Kalyan fans for weeks together. He was recently externed by the Telangana police for a period of six months followed by his comments on Hindu God Ram. He is now back in Hyderabad and appearing in TV debates as usual.