But what raised eye brows was the shrill tone and tenor of his address, punctuated by barbs against the TDP.
Mr. Kalyan also attacked the YSR Congress Party accusing it of not addressing the problems being faced by the poor on the floor of the Assembly. “Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy is not interested in coming to the Assembly or is he thinking that he should come to the Assembly only after becoming the CM?’’ he asked.
The Jana Sena leader, who began his speech with the issue of the Special Category Status, spoke for a brief while in English directed at Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, but later mounted full scale attack on the TDP government accusing it of indulging in corruption that was unprecedented in its scale.
“I supported the TDP and the BJP parties during the general elections held in 2014 with a hope that they would rebuild the State which had no Capital and no financial resources. But the State government has belied my hopes and the aspirations of crores of people. Why should I support these parties which had betrayed the people,’’ he asked.
Centre ridiculed
Mr. Kalyan said the outright rejection of SCS was against the Constitution as at stake was the implementation of A.P. Reorganization Act which was enacted in the Parliament when the BJP was in the Opposition.
He asserted that if the Central government so blatantly violated the law, there was no reason for the State to toe its line.
He recalled that it was on the basis of its “one vote-two States” resolution that the BJP had endorsed bifurcation.
The BJP has now changed its tack for reasons to be explained to the people, who believed that justice would be done under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Naidu not spared
His attack became shriller when he took the name of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who he alleged had been a mute spectator while his party MLAs and supporters plundered natural resources like water and sand.
“I am beginning to doubt the integrity of the Chief Minister. It seems that the fruits of development have reached only his party men and he is unable to reign his own son, Lokesh, who is being accused of indulging in corruption. It appears that the CM has no control over the administration or he might be wilfully allowing these things to happen,” said Mr. Kalyan.
The Jana Sena Party leader also accused the TDP of inciting social conflicts. by pitting the Kapus against the Backward Communities, the fishermen against the STs and creating a wedge between the two sub castes in Dalits.
Mr. Kalyan further said the construction of high-rise buildings in Amaravati would not make Amaravati a great capital city on the lines of Singapore, what was needed was good governance and leadership which has integrity, like Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of Singapore who brought his close friends to justice in the war against corruption.
