VIJAYAWADA: Demanding action against Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for his remarks in an audio tape encouraging wagering, YSRC leader G Srikanth Reddy has said that the TDP is on the brink of disintegration as a powerful group within the party will desert it after the results. Speaking to reporters on Friday, he said Naidu, in the audio clip, was heard telling his cadre to wager as odds are favouring the TDP in the State and Matka (illegal betting) market. “This bravado is only to keep his flock together as they are ready to desert him, the details of which are known to him,” Srikanth Reddy said.
The YSRC leader said the comments on wagering were aimed at providing a booster dose to the sinking boat. A revolt is brewing within the TDP which will come out after the results, he said.
Penal action should be taken against Naidu for his remarks encouraging betting despite being the chief minister, who has 40 years of public life behind him, he added. “With no one being ready to support him, he has been resorting to various gimmicks from complaining against the EVMs to kicking up a row on review meetings to shifting the blame of losing the election on others. When his flock became restless, he took up the gamble of good odds for the TDP to keep them in good humour,” the YSRC leader observed.