Knocking Naidu Down

With his demolition drive, Jaganmohan Reddy is earning his stripes as a decisive administrator and canny politician

- Rahul Devulapalli

AN UNEASY CALM prevails in the Telugu Desam Party, as the fate of N. Chandrababu Naidu’s riverfront residence at Undavalli village near Vijayawada hangs in the balance. The former Andhra Pradesh chief minister lives in a bungalow on the banks of the Krishna, and it was allegedly built flouting environmental laws. The allegation has the TDP on the back foot, when it is yet to recover from the drubbing it got in the recent Lok Sabha and assembly elections.

Naidu and his partymen have not been able to counter the offensive launched by Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy and the YSR Congress. Having won a huge mandate, Jagan has taken a number of bold decisions within a month of taking charge. An eviction notice recently stuck outside Naidu’s home has so unsettled the TDP that it is yet to make a counter move.

“There are two views within the party,” said a TDP leader. “One section wants Naidu to make it an issue and capitalise on it to get people’s support. The other leaders want Naidu to quietly move out. Whatever stand we take, the structure will be razed.”

Naidu had moved into the bungalow in 2015, amid criticism from environmentalists and opposition leaders. A year later, he built a huge hall called Praja Vedika near the bungalow to hold official meetings and events. Praja Vedika, too, was constructed illegally, and the state government demolished it on June 26.