PARVATHIPURAM-MANYAM: Former Union minister and TDP senior leader Vyricherla Kishore Chandra Suryanarayana Deo on Thursday wrote an open letter to the party chief N Chandrababu Naidu expressing his displeasure over the move to have an electoral alliance with the BJP.
He explained how the BJP-led NDA government cheated Andhra Pradesh by ignoring the implementation of several promises made at the time of State bifurcation.
“The NDA government seems to have laid emphasis on creating vote banks by unleashing a reign of terror by bigots. Democracy has already slipped into an ochlocracy mode. All the government institutions have been marginalised, and even the selection process of the election has been compromised,” he observed.
He alleged that democracy, federalism and secularism are under stress and the Adivasi communities are under constant threat from the powerful mining lobbies and the corporate houses backed by the BJP.
"The NDA leadership, which is heading for a kakistrocratic regime, has taken our nation to the precipice. Therefore, I am thoroughly disappointed and aghast at the manner in which you are pursuing an alliance with such disruptive forces. This is the worst-case scenario that I have witnessed in the five decades of my political career. I cannot barter my soul for the crumbs of power. Therefore, I am forthwith resigning from the primary membership of TDP,” he stated in the letter.
Kishore Chandra Deo was Zamindar of Kurupam in the erstwhile undivided Vizianagaram district. He is a six-time MP, including one-time in the Rajya Sabha, from Araku parliamentary segment. He served as Union Minister for Tribal Affairs and Panchayati Raj in the Congress-led UPA-2 government. He joined the TDP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections after facing a crushing defeat in 2014. However, he once again lost the Lok Sabha poll on TDP ticket from Araku in 2019.