Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday was caught on camera threatening workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after they attempted to block his convoy. "If you try to mess with me, you will be finished," the CM told the BJP workers. The incident took place around noon near the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) in Kakinada.
Naidu was on his way to a ‘Janmabhoomi - Maa Vooru’ event in East Godavari district. As BJP workers attempted to block his convoy, the bus carrying the Chief Minister came to a halt and Naidu stepped out. He was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Nimmakayala Chinarajappa.
Threatening one of the BJP workers, he said, “What do you want? Why are you behaving like this? What do the BJP people want? You have no right to be in the state. Do you have any shame?”
You should all be ashamed because of what your leader Narendra Modi has done. If you try to mess with me, you will be finished. What has your Narendra Modi done for the state?N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh
When the BJP activist tries to respond, Naidu cuts her off, stating, “The public will not leave you if you go out and say his name. Be careful. Yesterday also, they did a lathicharge. He ruined the state. Do you have any commitment to the state?”
Watch the video here:
What Naidu was referring to was a lathi charge by the police on leaders of Left parties and student leaders of Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party, while they were staging a protest for Special Category Status (SCS) in New Delhi on Thursday.
‘Janmabhoomi – Maa Vooru’ is a public outreach program by the state government, the fifth phase for which started on January 1, 2019.
Just earlier this week, during a video-conference with BJP workers on Wednesday, Modi had lashed out at the TDP government and Naidu, accusing them of corruption.
Addressing a public meeting at Guntur a day later, Naidu hit back, accusing Modi of ‘betraying’ Andhra Pradesh. The TDP chief said Modi went back on all the commitments made to Andhra Pradesh after bifurcation of the state. He said Modi was attacking him even as he was demanding the Centre to fulfil the promises.
The TDP and the BJP had fought the 2014 elections together but have since had a fallout, with the TDP alleging that the national party went back on its promise of granting special status to Andhra Pradesh.
(This story was originally published in The News Minute and has been reposted with permission.)
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