Reshmi AR

Clearly, panic has overpowered Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. The latest example of how rattled he appears to be by the fear of imminent defeat in the upcoming elections is his statement on Leader of Opposition in Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Chandrababu Naidu remarked that YS Jagan "can never be Telugu people's Anna". This itself shows that the AP chief minister feels threatened by the YSRCP chief. It is not as if Chandrababu Naidu would be unaware of the soaring popularity of YS Jagan in every street of every village and town of Andhra Pradesh. The YSRCP chief's padayatra stretching across fourteen long months proved this countless times.

Analysed purely from the standpoint of logic, who enjoys more credibility or deserves to be called Anna (brother) of the Telugu people? Is it someone like YS Jagan who has advocated the cause of special category status to Andhra Pradesh from the time the state was bifurcated or Chandrababu Naidu who first settled for a special package and later made a U-turn?

The YSRCP president took up the cause of SCS to the state over these four and a half years and staged protests and held rallies. In fact, Chandrababu Naidu tried to supress these protests and even had the Leader of Opposition arrested on the runway of Visakhapatnam airport when he went there to stage a protest for SCS. It was only after the YSRCP led by YS Jagan championed the cause of SCS relentlessly that the Andhra Pradesh chief minister woke up to the pressure building around the cause. Suddenly, he tried to portray himself as an ardent advocate of SCS but has always lacked credibility on this count. For four long years, when he was a part of the NDA, Chandrababu made no mention of SCS. In contrast, YS Jagan always took up the fight for Special Category Status without let up. Today, Chandrababu Naidu is shamelessly copying from YSRCP's people manifesto, Navaratnalu, which YS Jagan had announced several months ago. Be the issue of pensions or loan waivers of DWCRA women and farmers, Chandrababu is seen aping YS Jagan's promises unabashedly. Does Chandrababu Naidu in the light of his copycat methods, corruptions, scandals he is mired in and tall promises which have never been fulfilled, deserved to be called Anna? He knows that he has lost all credibility.

On the other hand, YS Jagan has gained in stature over the past few years, from the time that he walked out of the Congress and established the YSR Congress Party.Chandababu Naidu over four and half years has not fulfilled a single promise from his election manifesto and is now resorting to enacting new dramas. The people of Andhra Pradesh have seen through his game. Very soon, they will teach him a lesson at the hustings which he will never forget.

They will decide in a clear emphatic way who the Anna of the Telugu people should be and will crown YS Jagan for his untiring efforts to the cause of the people of the state.

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