A day after courting controversy after deleting a tweet on RSS ideologue Veer Savarkar, minutes after putting it up, Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday said that it was 'not a big issue'.
When reporters questioned the CM, he said, “I don’t think it is a big issue. Even the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) tweets are managed by designated teams. The CM’s twitter account is handled by a private group and managed by the technical team in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). It’s not a big issue."
"Humble tributes to the revolutionary freedom fighter Veer Sarvakar ji, on his death anniversary," the deleted tweet had said.
The move triggered off widespread speculation on Twitter, with various people debating the reason behind the tweet being deleted.
"The saffron party venerates Savarkar as a "freedom fighter", but many opposition parties say he wasn't a supporter of India's independence," one user wrote.
"The reason Naidu could have deleted the tweet is because the TDP's relations with ally BJP have been a bit rocky lately. Savarkar, who's said to have coined the term 'Hindutva', is held in high esteem by the BJP," one user pointed out.
TDP is a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre while the BJP is the junior ally in TDP-led government in the state.
The two parties are going through a rough patch ever since the alleged injustice meted out to the state in the Union Budget. The TDP is upset that it failed to secure a good deal despite being an ally, while the BJP has accused the TDP of mismanagement of resources that were sanctioned by the Centre.
Naidu has vowed to continue to put pressure on the Centre till it fulfils all commitments made in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, and handholds the state till it comes on par with other southern states.
IANS inputs