The latest controversy over Section 8 of the AP Reorganisation Act is believed to be part of the game plan of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to divert the attention of the people from the infamous cash-for-vote scandal involving TDP MLA A Revanth Reddy and others, in a desperate move to safeguard the sinking image of his party.
Naidu knows fully well that AP is not going to get any benefit in Hyderabad with the bestowing of special powers to Governor E S L Narasimhan over Hyderabad.
Even if the Governor gets special powers, there is no guarantee that he would allow Naidu to go scot free in the cash-for-vote scam. And the AP police would not get any jurisdiction over Hyderabad.
Yet, he tried to bring pressure on the Centre to invoke Section 8 of the Act only to push the cash-for-vote scandal to the sidelines.
He knows that the Telangana government would now turn the attention on protecting its hold over Hyderabad and for the next few days, the focus will be more on as to how far the Governor would go in the wake of the purported advice given by Attorney-General of India Mukul Rohatgi.
Naturally, the media, both print and electronic, have diverted their attention to the Section 8 episode by giving their own interpretations on the issue. Thus, Naidu seemed to have succeeded in sidetracking the focus from cash-for-vote scandal to Section 8 controversy as of now, it is to be seen how far he would be able to stretch his luck in trying to save his neck from the chopping block.
