Chandrababu’s Chinna Srinu Move Triggers Controversy in TDP!
The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly has a total of 175 seats. The present coalition government in the state holds 164 of them. Ever since coming to power, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who heads the coalition government, has repeatedly asserted that Jagan will not return to power and that they will be the ones to come back to power. However, in a surprising development, TDP chief and Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu suddenly draped a TDP scarf around the shoulders of Majji Srinivasa Rao, popularly known as Chinna Srinu, the Vizianagaram Zilla Parishad Chairman, on Tuesday evening. Chinna Srinu has been facing serious allegations in the liquor scam during the Jagan regime, particularly in the alleged liquor transportation scam. The same Majji Srinu had earlier demanded the resignation of Minister Nara Lokesh over the DSC scam. He had also made several allegations and criticisms against TDP leaders.
Despite the fact that a Vigilance inquiry into the alleged liquor transportation scam during the Jagan regime reportedly found a role for Majji Srinu, and despite his demand for Lokesh’s resignation over the DSC scam, Chandrababu chose to welcome him into the TDP and drape him with the party scarf. This has triggered a discussion within the TDP: Did Chandrababu send a message to the people that the coalition government, despite having 164 seats, is weak, and that it cannot win the Vizianagaram Zilla Parishad and other elections unless Majji Srinivasa Rao joins the TDP? Leaving that issue aside for a moment, another discussion is taking place among TDP leaders: if Majji Srinivasa Rao, who is facing allegations in the liquor transportation scam, is protected after joining the TDP, will that not weaken the cases against the others as well?
None of the leaders from Vizianagaram district reportedly agreed to Majji Srinivasa Rao joining the TDP. Despite this, Chandrababu went ahead with the decision. There is also a discussion among TDP leaders that, apart from political requirements, the path was cleared for his entry because Majji Srinivasa Rao could be useful in the future in protecting the 2,000 acres allegedly acquired under benami names in the Bhogapuram surrounding areas by KIM and his team on behalf of a key minister in the Andhra Pradesh government. There has been talk in political circles for a long time that several deals took place behind the scenes in connection with the liquor scam. With the latest developments, there is now widespread discussion that this case is unlikely to move forward at all, and that these people are working not for the state but for their own financial and political interests.
