Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu who has been accusing the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party of being the B-team of BJP, has yet again attacked its party chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for maintaining a conspicuous silence in the Mamata vs CBI episode.
Speaking in the AP Assembly, Chandrababu said, "KCR called on the West Bengal Chief Minister in the name of Federal Front twice. But, when leaders of all the non-BJP parties extended solidarity with Mamata following the CBI controversy in Kolkata, KCR did not even condemn the issue, which clearly reveals that the Telangana Chief Minister is nothing but the mask of Modi," The New Indian Express quoted him as saying.
Earlier this week, the CBI visited West Bengal intending to arrest Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar for his alleged role in the Saradha chit fund scam. This led to a major political turmoil, as the state police briefly detained CBI officials, and the West Bengal CM, Mamata Banerjee embarked on a dharna against the BJP-led government at the Centre. During this crisis, several regional party leaders and state CMs had condemned the Centre for using CBI as a 'tool' to do a witch-hunt and expressed solidarity with Mamata. Chandrababu personally met Mamata and joined her in the dharna on Tuesday. However, KCR, a proponent of the Federal Front who had sought Mamata’s support did not take a stand.
KCR and Chandrababu have been attacking each other since the Telangana Assembly elections. The Telangana CM was agitated when the TDP decided to contest the elections in alliance with the Congress even after the state was bifurcated. After winning the elections, KCR promised a 'return gift' to Chandrababu, hinting that he will campaign in Andhra Pradesh to vote him out. To this end, KCR has brought in Chandrababu's rival and Leader of Opposition Jaganmohan Reddy into his Federal Front group, which he claims to be anti-Congress and anti-BJP.