Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s wife Nara Bhuvaneswari led a hunger strike by party leaders across the State on Monday, which coincided with Gandhi Jayanti, in protest against what she called the illegal arrest of her husband in the alleged skill development scam.
Addressing the party cadres and supporters in Rajamahendravaram on Monday evening, Ms. Bhuvaneswari spoke of Mr. Naidu’s commitment to the betterment of the State. “My husband barely sleeps for four hours a day. What he did for the development of the State and welfare of the people was like penance. My family never stooped to such a low level as to loot people’s money,” she said.
That Mr. Naidu masterminded the skill development scam was a wild allegation, she asserted, while saying that she never expected her family to land in such trouble for no fault of theirs.
Many people have died in recent days unable to bear the injustice being meted out to Mr. Naidu, Ms. Bhuvaneswari alleged.
Further, Ms. Bhuvaneswari said that when Mr. Naidu took charge as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh after bifurcation, the State had no treasury and no infrastructure. In spite of that, he tirelessly worked to develop the capital city of Amaravati. “People should have given him at least 10 years to build the State. I hope that they would at least vote for the right party in 2024,” she said.
Mr. Naidu reportedly sat on hunger strike in Rajamahendravaram Central Jail. TDP State president K. Atchannaidu and others staged the protest at the party office near Mangalagiri.
TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh took up the hunger strike at Rajya Sabha MP K. Ravindra Kumar’s residence in New Delhi along with Mr. Kumar and MPs Kesineni Srinivas and K. Rammohan Naidu.
