Chandrababu Naidu trying to 'hoodwink' people: BJP

Amaravati (AP), June 4: The BJP on Monday accused the ruling TDP in Andhra Pradesh of indulging in "spit-and-run politics" and carrying out "organised propaganda" against the saffron party's government at the Centre for political gains.

Lashing out at Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for his attack on the Centre, BJP national spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said the TDP supremo was "carrying out an organised propaganda and spreading lies".

Since snapping ties with the NDA in March this year, Naidu has been targeting the BJP at the Centre, accusing them of going back on the "promise" of granting special category status to Andhra Pradesh and also hatching conspiracies against the TDP.

Rao said, "He (Naidu) is trying not only to hoodwink people but also provoke them for political gains. This is opportunistic and cynical politics."

Naidu was adopting "spit-and run-politics" and trying to sling muck at the BJP and the Narendra Modi government, which was unbecoming of a chief minister, he told reporters here. The BJP national spokesperson alleged that Naidu had no stability of thought and was spreading "falsehood" on different issues such as the financial assistance to capital city Amaravati and the special economic grant to backward districts.

"How can the state government expect funds without submitting proper utilisation certificates for the money already granted?" he asked.

Rao alleged, "His (Naidu's) only success in the last four years had been in making Andhra Pradesh the number one state in the country in corruption. India Corruption Study, an annual survey of corruption in various states, clearly established this."

While the Centre was ready to help Andhra Pradesh by all means, the state government remained indifferent, he claimed, adding, "We are ready to implement the special (economic) assistance measures promised in September 2016."

"However, the state government is not coming forward to do its part, like setting up a special purpose vehicle to draw funds for different projects," Rao said.

The state government only wanted direct fund flow with an "ostensible aim of misappropriating it. We will not let that happen," the senior BJP leader said.

He recalled that the TDP supremo had on April 10 last year proposed a resolution during an NDA meeting that Narendra Modi should continue to be the alliance's prime ministerial candidate in 2019.

"But we all know how he changed colours, putting even a chameleon to shame," Rao said referring to Naidu snapping ties with the NDA over special category status for Andhra Pradesh.

BJP state president Kanna Lakshminarayana alleged the Chandrababu Naidu government had been splurging crores of rupees of public money on wasteful events like "Dharma Porata Deeksha and Nava Nirmana Deeksha." "Why is people's money being spent on a party's political propaganda?" he asked.

PTI