The social media and Whatsapp groups on phones went ballistic a couple of days ago after a video of Amaravati JAC Convenor K Srinivas Rao hurling his Chappal on Andhra Pradesh BJP State General Secretary S Vishnu Vardhan Reddy went viral. Even though the act of throwing Chappal seemed ridiculous and unwarranted, the public sentiment riding on the act of aggression is indeed something that must wake BJP out of its slumber. K Srinivas has been transformed into a hero overnight, helping him add a legion of fans from across party lines. Many netizens are hailing him as a hero who has the guts to call a spade, spade. But why is there so much anger simmering against BJP and how did Vishnu Vardhan Reddy become the object of such hatred.
What actually happened in the debate?
Since the YS Jagan Government made the bizarre announcement of having three capitals for the state of Andhra Pradesh, the farmers of Amaravati have been on a war path. As the largest exercise of its kind in India to date, land pooling for Amaravati has made milestones for its unprecedented scale and efficiency. Within just 60 days of implementation, the then government led by Nara Chandrababu Naidu managed to persuade 25,000 farmers to give up 30,000 acres of land. As of June 2018, over 33,700 acres had been consolidated through the scheme. The Indian central government lauded Amaravati’s land pooling scheme and other states such as Maharashtra have taken efforts to study the upcoming capital’s model.
Beyond consulting the people to ensure proper compensation, the Andhra Pradesh government has looked into helping landowners transition to urban livelihoods in the long run. For example, 123 landowners were sent to Singapore in 2017 to learn about urban development, from integrated masterplanning to development forms such as integrated waterways, heartland malls and mixed-use developments that they might see in their future city.
Farmers who contributed to the land pooling have been protesting against the three capitals decision since the last 438 days. “YS Jagan sees Amaravati as a legacy of Chandrababu Naidu. The Chief Minister wants to dump the People’s Capital which will kill the future of the State as well as the farmers who have been protesting since more than a year,” rued Amaravati JAC convenor K Srinivas Rao during a debate. As a representative of the farmers, K Srinivas Rao participates in several discussions on TV Channels including ABN AndhraJyothy which has supported the Amaravati movement from day one.
Many in the political circles opine that S Vishnu Vardhan Reddy is close to the YSRCP Government because of several equations including caste / community. Several photographs of Vishnu Reddy gleefully posing with Chief Minister have gone viral after the Chappal throwing incident. The topic of discussion on the dreadful day was Andhra Pradesh Amaravati being termed as nothing but graphics. As the discussion gathered steam, Vishnu Reddy began accusing K Srinivas to be a ‘Paid Artist’ – a term popularized by the YSRCP and considered derogatory by many Amaravati farmers. Even as Vishnu Reddy was smirking and harping on that to provoke Srinivas, the latter lost his cool and flung his Chappal at the former. The anchor Venkatkrishna tried his best to control the situation, but things went out of hand too far and too fast.
BJP bans ABN AndhraJyothy, lodges complaint
The Andhra Pradesh state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to boycott ABN AndhraJyothy channel and the Andhra Jyothi newspaper following the ‘Chappal’ attack. Strangely, the BJP leadership is blaming the Telugu Desam party for orchestrating the attack on their leader. Even after K Srinivas Rao offered an unconditional apology, BJP leaders have filed a complaint with the Andhra Pradesh police alleging ‘Attempt to Murder’.
BJP state chief Somu Veerraju condemned the attack and appealed ABN AndhraJyothy TV channel to lodge a complaint against K Srinivasa Rao. BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao went a step ahead alleging TDP’s role in the attack. “If TDP has no role in it, Naidu should condemn the attacker unequivocally,” GVL tweeted.
The Andhra Pradesh state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to boycott ABN TV and Andhra Jyoti, which have been working as a Telugu Desam party pamphlet and in complete negation of media standards and moral values. pic.twitter.com/8W6Co49HGO
— BJP ANDHRA PRADESH (@BJP4Andhra) February 24, 2021
The Aftermath
The Chappal Throwing video Clip reached millions of people on their phones and computer and elicited thousands of comments. Many netizens trolled Vishnu Reddy and the BJP for going back on special status and biased treatment being given to the state that was born out of unjust bifurcation when compared to BJP-ruled states. Also, price rise and abnormal hike in fuel prices and LPG is proving to be a bane for BJP. If the social media sentiment is anything to go by, then BJP AP Unit winning the elections in 2024 seems like a tough task as of now. Jana Sena and Pawan Kalyan who is known for his good-intention politics will be better off allying with Telugu Desam party for brighter prospects.
