New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is indeed a smart politician and his statements on "Telugu Pride" in Lok Sabha has proved that.
Even after being continually attacked by BJP's biggest ally in the South, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) over the allocation of funds to Andhra Pradesh in the Union Budget, Modi kept quiet only to speak out in the Lok Sabha targetting the Congress.
Hitting two targets with a single blow, Modi referred to an incident where Rajiv Gandhi called T Anjaiah the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, a "buffoon" at Hyderabad's Begumpet airport in 1982.
Rajiv Gandhi had arrived at Hyderabad for a private visit. He reportedly shouted at Anjaiah for bringing a huge crowd of party workers to the airport.
The chief minister who did not understand Gandhi's reason for annoyance did not do anything to disperse the crowd. In a fit of anger, Gandhi called him a "buffoon" in public.
This proved costly for the Congress as the legendary actor NT Rama Rao started the TDP to save "Telugu Pride".
Modi took the opportunity to say that this was how a "Dalit chief minister" was insulted in public by the Congress.
Modi tore into the Congress for "dividing" the state of Andhra Pradesh. He said the people of Telangana were suffering because of the hurried division of Andhra Pradesh by Congress, which took only politics into consideration during the deed.
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This is the first time Prime Minister Modi has spoken, albeit indirectly, on the ongoing tussle with the TDP, where the Andhra Pradesh's political party is alleging that the government has done injustice in allocating funds to the southern state in the Budget 2018-19.
Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP was highly disappointed with the Government at the Centre stating that no funds were allotted for various projects in the state and also for the construction of AP’s capital city, Amaravati.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in a meeting to review its alliance, on Sunday decided to not break alliance with ally BJP-led NDA.
However, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has fixed the end of the current Budget session as the deadline for the Central government to take action on pending issues of the state.
(With agency inputs)
