Naidu recalls how party gave political life to Rao

Kakinada: What would have Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao done if the TDP did not give him political life? According to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, KCR would have become a sheep grazer. As Naidu was speaking at a function organised on the occasion of May Day celebrations, a member from the audience asked him about why KCR was not cooperating with Andhra Pradesh, Naidu remarked that it was TDP which gave him political life and encouraged him to attain great heights in public life.

Whatever he is today it was only because of the encouragement and support the TDP gave him. If TDP had not done so, KCR today would have been a sheep grazer in Siddipet, remarked Naidu. Though Naidu made these comments in a lighter vein, it has sparked off a major controversy in Telangana. Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao said that such comments indicate the level of frustration Naidu was undergoing for having failed to keep up his electoral promises while Telangana despite being a new state was forging ahead in development.

“Naidu’s cheap comments are in fact an insult to the Yadav community,” Rao said. Many TRS leaders demanded that Naidu should apologise to the people of Telangana for making such derogatory remarks against another Chief Minister and demanded that he withdraw those words immediately.

However, TDP leaders justified the comments saying that Naidu had nothing personal against KCR but was only trying to drive home the point that KCR owes his political growth to TDP. The TDP leaders said that it was a fact that though there were several problems between the two states, the TRS government was treating its counterpart as an enemy and was not cooperating in resolving the issues amicably.