VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday appealed to the people to be ready and united to face the Centre if it resorted to vindictive measures against the State in the days to come, especially after the Assembly elections in Karnataka next month. Instead of celebrating his birthday, Naidu, who turned 68 on Friday, sat on a 12-hour hunger strike from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m at the IGMC stadium here without even once having water. Later, addressing the people of the State at large, he termed his protest, christened the Dharma Porata Deeksha, as just the beginning in the long struggle ahead to ensure justice to the State.
“I never thought I will have to take up a Deeksha like this on my birthday... but am very proud today for having done so. It’s my responsibility to fight for the good of the State,” he said and expressed happiness over the participation of people from different walks of life and organisations in the protest programme. Dwelling at length on the failure of the Modi government in fulfilling poll promises as well as implementing provisions in the AP Reorganisation Act, Naidu reiterated his oft-repeated fear that the Modi Sarkar may target the State to take revenge on the TDP for exiting the NDA. “They may target the State after the Karnataka elections... the attack may come in any form... even by way of attacks on individuals,” he claimed, hinting that the Centre may slap cases on TDP leaders and urged the people to rebuff any just attempts.
In the same breath, Naidu asserted that he was not afraid and would not tolerate if the Centre tried to weaken the State government like it has done in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
He recalled Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar’s reported comments that the Centre had helped the State in the belief that the TDP would remain in the NDA and sought to know whose money was given to the State. Listing the assurances given by the BJP in the run-up to the 2014 elections, he explained threadbare how it had failed to keep its word. In this context, he explained in detail why the TDP had waited for four years to exit the NDA.
“I visited Delhi 29 times and told them that they were betraying the State by colluding with the YSR Congress. They tried to keep us under their control much like they did in Tamil Nadu. They instigated the YSRC and secured that party’s support in the presidential elections. Since no justice was done to State even after four budgets, our Union ministers resigned.
Even then, we gave them one more opportunity... we wanted to solve the issues by remaining in the NDA. Even then they didn’t respond positively. It was then that we had to move a no-confidence motion and walk out of NDA,” he recalled while referring to queries raised by the Opposition as to why the TDP had been mum for four years despite the Centre’s indifference.
Talking about his future course of action, the CM said he would hold a public meeting in Tirupati on April 30.