Strange are the ways of Telugu Desam Party leader and Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas alias Nani.
One day, he turns a rebel against his own party leadership and the very next day, he gives the impression that he is the most loyal leader and trusted lieutenant of party president N Chandrababu Naidu.
For the last few days, Kesineni has been making strong comments against the TDP leadership for encouraging his detractors within the party.
A few days ago, he declared that he would be contesting the next Lok Sabha elections from Vijayawada on the TDP ticket, without even waiting for an official announcement from Naidu.
Not only that, the MP also declared the party ticket to his follower Sahifullah Baig, son of former MLA M K Baig, from Vijayawada (West) assembly constituency, even before the party took any decision on tickets. It clearly indicated that Kesineni is openly defying Naidu and throwing a challenge to him.
But when the ruling YSR Congress party started making a big issue out of Income Tax department notices to Naidu on alleged payment of Rs 118 crore by a person representing an infrastructure company, Kesineni came to the defence of Naidu.
He said Naidu is the most honest politician with a lot of integrity in the country and such I-T notices were routine as part of the investigation. He expressed confidence that Naidu would come out unscathed in the probe.
But when the TDP chief was arrested by the police on Saturday morning in connection with the AP Skill Development Corporation scam, Kesineni came out strongly in defence of Naidu and condemned the illegal arrest.
He immediately dashed off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging the witch-hunting of Naidu by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
He said Naidu had dedicated approximately 45 years of his life to selflessly serving our nation and is widely regarded as a clean and principled leader.
“The circumstances surrounding Mr. Chandra Babu Naidu's arrest have raised serious doubts about the legality and fairness of the process. The charges are numerous and appear to be politically motivated. As citizens who cherish our democratic values, we are deeply troubled by this situation,” he said.
He urge the immediate intervention of the Prime Minister in the matter to see that a thorough, transparent, and impartial investigation takes place, guaranteeing that Naidu's legal rights are upheld.
“We trust in your dedication to ensuring that justice prevails in this case and that Mr. Chandra Babu Naidu's rights are protected,” Kesineni said.
