Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu found himself in the middle of a controversy yet again, when he threatened a local for questioning him, as he was campaigning in Nandyal constituency in Kurnool district.
Naidu was campaigning for Bhuma Brahmananda Reddy, who is contesting the Nandyal seat from the TDP, at Yaluru in Gospadu mandal.
Naidu was highlighting his government’s achievements, and also stated that they were supplying regular power to rural areas.
However, a voter was reported to have complained to the CM that power supply was irregular in his area.
This seemed to have greatly irked Naidu, who said, "If you say that there is no power, it seems you are blind. How dare you question me? Did Jaganmohan Reddy send you to shout at me? I am the CM. How can you question me in front of my people? If you belong to another party, then stay at home and don’t come to my meetings.”
He even warned the locals against doing “Tamasha”.
Naidu also asked the citizen, "If he is from YSR Congress, I want to ask, have you gone mad? I have seen hundreds of people like you in my 40 years of politics."
However, he was still not done.
Getting even more serious, he said, “I will send the RDO and Collector to enquire about the problems. If it is learnt that there are no problems, I will put a case against you.”
This is not the first such incident that Naidu is drawing flak for, as this comes exactly one month after he told TDP leaders to imply that citizens must vote for his party, as they were enjoying the benefits extended by his government.
"You are taking the pension I am giving, using roads we have built, taking rations that we give, benefiting from our schemes, then why should you not support us politically?" he was quoted as saying.
In May, during the TDP's annual conclave, PTI quoted Naidu as saying, "People want welfare, development and corruption-free governance. We are working in that direction only...Whoever doesn't vote for TDP should feel ashamed."
The Nandyal Assembly constituency, a stronghold of the YSRCP, is witnessing a void after the death of its sitting legislator Bhuma Nagi Reddy, in March this year.
The MLA suffered a cardiac arrest at his house in Allagadda in Kurnool district and passed away in a hospital in Nandyal.
After winning on a YSRCP ticket along with his daughter Bhuma Akhila Priya, the MLA had defected to the TDP in February last year.
After Nagi Reddy's death, Akhila Priya. who is the MLA from Allagadda, was inducted into the state cabinet as the Tourism Minister.
She was also present beside Naidu, when the latest incident occurred.
The TDP has also announced Bhuma Brahmananda Reddy, Akhila Priya's cousin, as its nominee for the Nandyal byelection.
However, the YSRCP is demanding that the TDP should 'leave the seat alone', and facilitate the unanimous election of their candidate, as Nagi Reddy was elected as an MLA from their party in 2014.