Atchennaidu Arrest: Naidu Started ‘Caste’ Politics?

Former minister and TDP leader Atchennaidu was arrested by the police on Thursday night in connection with the ESI scam. However, TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu, in a press release on Friday, mentioned that Atchennaidu was kidnapped and demanded that the DGP should inform the party about his whereabouts as he was not reachable on the phone, either to him or to his family members. He also alleged that Atchennaidu was not being allowed to take medicines.

Naidu terming the arrest as a kidnap itself shows that he is not able to come of the outdated politics he is used to during the last 40 years of his political life.

A few more sentences in the press release mentioned that Atchennaidu is a leader belonging to the minority section of the society and that he always fought for protecting their rights. Naidu demanded that Jagan-led government should own responsibility for the kidnap of the leader belonging to the minority sections.

Political observers say that Naidu, being an old-timer, is not able to shrug off his outdated analysis of things and attributing the caste angle to every incident, though he is an able administrator.

Atchennaidu always fought for the rights of the minorities and the under-privileged, Naidu said, reminding that he had questioned the YSRC government in the previous Assembly session about the reduction in quota for the minorities in the local body elections to 24% from 34% and diversion of the BC sub-plan funds.

Further, in the press release, Naidu alleged that Atchennaidu’s kidnap was a conspiracy hatched by Jagan only to prevent information about the YSRC attacks on the down-trodden from reaching the public. With just 4 days for the Assembly to begin, Atchennaidu’s kidnap is a pre-planned drama, he alleged.

The TDP supremo said that it was against the law to take the TDLP vice-president Atchennaidu into custody without issuing any prior notices. He said the lawless rule of the YSRC government has reached its peak and called upon the people to express their resentment against the YSRC government. Naidu called upon the intellectuals, minorities and other sections of the society to protest against the misuse of power by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.