As Chandrababu Naidu Promises High Drama After House Arrest, Here’s A History Of His Feud With The Reddys

YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy’s ascent to power in Andhra Pradesh has signalled bad news for former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu.

In just a few months, Jagan has removed the security cover of Naidu, threatened to demolish his house, torn down an auditorium constructed by him when he was the chief minister and also cancelled contracts provided by the erstwhile government.

Now things have reached a crescendo with Naidu being placed under house arrest as he was gearing up to protest against the eviction of villagers in Guntur district.

History Of Feud With Jagan Reddy’s Family

Similar to other public figures like Caeser-Brutus and Lennon-Mccartney, Chandrababu Naidu and Jagan’s late father YS Rajasekhara Reddy were good friends when they became junior Congress ministers in 1978.

Things soured when Naidu quit the Congress and joined hands with his father-in-law’s TDP after the latter became chief minister in 1984. Reddy who had become the president of Andhra Congress, began attacking the NTR dispensation.

While tensions continued between the duo till 2004 with Naidu enjoying immense power during the 1999 to 2004 NDA regime, the tide turned when Reddy stormed to power in 2004 after defeating Naidu.

Worsening Relations

The defeat struck a blow to Naidu, who then as a opposition leader began regularly attacking Reddy and his son Jagan by levelling corruption charges against them.

Reddy did not hold back in response and the lowest point in their relationship came when in 2007 he attacked Naidu by stating, “the womb from where you have been born will regret giving birth to you”.

Reddy later “clarified” that he did not mean to disrespect Naidu’s mother but it did precarious little in quelling tensions. Naidu suffered a big political blow in 2009 when he lost the assembly polls and was written-off from politics by many.

After Reddy died in a helicopter crash, the feud continued with his son Jaganmohan Reddy who after having a fallout with the Congress had formed his own party.

After being jailed in connection with the disproportionate assets case, Jagan is reportedly said to have believed that Naidu was behind the CBI and ED investigations against him, including the seizure of his assets and companies.

Naidu’s Return

Chandrababu Naidu’s continued their feud after his ascent to power in 2014 and began renaming projects named by YSR Reddy to revive NTR’s legacy. Being in opposition Jagan kept attacking Naidu over various governance issues.

Jagan’s Revenge

Naidu may have smelled the troubled times when he was frisked and treated as a commoner at the Gannavaram Airport in Vijayawada. A few days later he was served an eviction notice to vacate his illegal riverfront residence at Undavalli.

Jagan has also accused Naidu of siphoning off a whopping Rs 1.34 lakh crore in the past two years.

The current issue boiled over when Naidu was planning a agitation in Guntur against an alleged eviction of villagers. While TDP and Naidu has alleged political vendetta, Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police D Gautam Sawang has clarified that Naidu has been taken into preventive custody.

As per a statement issued by Sawang, the preventive custody has been necessitated as “his actions are increasing tensions and creating disturbance to law and order in the Palnadu region of Guntur district”.