Telugu Desam Party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who had been waiting for a serious issue to rejuvenate the party which was down in the dumps after the recent election debacle, seems to have found one in the tragic suicide of senior leader and former Andhra Pradesh speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao.
After ensuring that it was indeed a suicide, Naidu started enacting a big drama right from Monday evening and dragged it on for three days so as to gain the maximum political mileage.
In fact, Kodela’s body was handed over to the family on Monday evening itself. Instead of shifting it to Guntur on the same night, the TDP chief kept the body overnight at NTR Trust Bhavan, despite the fact that all the followers of Kodela are in the Palanadu region.
The body was taken to Guntur in a procession from Hyderabad, where it was kept the whole day, instead of being taken to Narasraopet for cremation on Tuesday itself.
In fact, Kodela’s son Shivaram came to Guntur in the early hours of Tuesday and there was no reason why it was kept in Guntur party office the whole day.
And on Wednesday morning, too, the funeral should have been completed in the morning, but Naidu chose to come late to Narsaraopet so that the saga is dragged till evening.
So, for three days, Naidu ensured that there is no other issue in the media than Kodela’s death.
His idea is very simple: to give a new lease of life for the TDP cadre and also blame the YSR Congress party and its government for three consecutive days!