Former CM Chandrababu Naidu Breaks Down at Press Meet in Amravati

Naidu vowed not to step into the state Assembly until he wins the elections.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president Chandrababu Naidu.

(Photo: Twitter/@JaiTDP)

Breaking into tears during a press meet on Friday, 19 November, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president Chandrababu Naidu vowed to step into the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly again only after returning to power. On the second day of the ongoing Assembly session, the Leader of the Opposition said in the House that he was pained by the continuous humiliation he has faced from the ruling YSRCP members.

"For the last two and a half years, I have been bearing the insults but remained calm. Today, they have even targeted my wife. I always lived with honour and for honour. I cannot take it any more," Naidu said.

Though he continued to speak, Speaker Tammineni Seetaram cut the mike even as the ruling party members called Naidu's remarks a "drama". Later addressing the media, Naidu broke down while speaking about the humiliation he had suffered because of YSRCP.

“I have never been this humiliated in my political career. In the past two-and-a-half years, since the YSRCP government came to power, we have been insulted in many ways. Our party leaders and workers have been harassed and jailed, financially and politically we have been humiliated, and we tolerated,” he said.

“In the Assembly today, they dragged even my wife into these dirty politics and resorted to character assassination,” he alleged.

The former Chief Minister vented his exasperation following an acrimonious exchange of words between the two sides in the House during a short discussion on the farming sector. Later, he held an impromptu meeting with his party legislators in his chamber, where he reportedly broke down.

The stunned TDP legislators consoled Naidu after which they all came back into the House. Naidu then announced his decision to stay away from the House "till I return to power".

Responding to Naidu’s comments, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said in a statement that he had entered the Assembly only after the heated exchange, after a review meeting over the heavy rains in the state. “By the time I entered the House, Naidu was speaking emotionally,” he said.

The statement further said it was Naidu himself who provoked YSRCP leaders by bringing up unrelated topics in the House. “He himself provokes the atmosphere in the House. Naturally ruling party leaders will respond to that,” he said.

The CM’s statement said, “When you make allegations, YSRCP leaders made counter-allegations, saying we also need to discuss the murders of Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga and Madhava Reddy and the death of Mallela Babji, which happened under the TDP regime. They only said so because they were provoked by Naidu,” Jagan said in his statement.

Claiming that YSRCP leaders did not comment on Naidu’s family members, he blamed Naidu in turn for talking about his own family, namely his uncle's former MP YS Vivekananda Reddy whose murder case is being investigated by the CBI. “It is Naidu who has spoken about my uncle, my mother and sister,” he said. He also objected to TDP leaders’ allegations over his cousin, Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy’s alleged involvemnet in Vivekananada Reddy’s murder. In turn, he alleged that the previous TDP government must have had a hand in Vivekananda Reddy’s murder, as Naidu was in power at the time.