NAVEENA GHANATE
Hyderabad
The brass of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi are anticipating that TDP president and former chief ministerof Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu, who has been remanded to custody in the case relating to ‘Skill development scam’, will come out soon.
A top leader of the BRS said: “Don’t we know that he will come out on bail in 2-3days. Who doesn’t know in this country about Chandrababu’s clout in the judiciary. This issue won’t last long”. So far BRS has, however, neither supported nor condemned the arrest. The party preferred to maintain distance, considering the sizeable Andhra population living in Telangana.
However, the BRS leadership is closely following developments in Andhra Pradesh, including how Nara Lokesh, national general secretary of TDP, and Pawan Kalyan, chief Jana Sena Party, are reacting to the situation.
Many former TDP leaders who are in BRS condemned the arrest. A BRS leader who was previously with TDP felt that it was not fair for him to be arrested. “Whatever it is, he is a former chief minister, taking him late at night is wrong. Procedures should be followed. He will come out sooner than later considering that he is powerful”, said the BRS leader.BRS leaders in constituencies dominated by TDP supporters are feeling the heat from the cadre. Considering that NTR statues had been setup by BRS leaders in some of the constituencies, now there is pressure to talk on this.
However, on social media, BRS party followers are supporting the arrest of Chandrababu Naidu. No top leader has given any statement to media houses.
A top leader of BRS said, “Our focus is on Telangana and Maharashtra only. What happens in Andhra Pradesh is not on us now”.
The BRS government, however, is not stopping flash protests taken up by TDP supporters in the state. Police are dispersing the crowd after they protest.
