Chandrababu Naidu cracks the whip on rogue TDP leaders

Reining in mercurial partymen isn't as easy as it seems, chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is discovering. On June 15, former minister and MP J.C. Diwakar Reddy, 72, broke office equipment and abused IndiGo staff at Visakhapatnam airport when they refused to let him board the flight to Hyderabad as he had turned up late - 28 minutes prior to take-off. Reddy relented only after the aircraft doors were reopened and he was allowed on board. Union minister for civil aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju, also of the Telugu Desam Party, was at the airport at the time. Reddy claimed Raju's intervention helped him board the flight, but the minister rejected the claim and promised a probe "to ensure that lawful outcomes follow".

Seven airlines, including IndiGo, have since barred Reddy on all flights as they did following misconduct by Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad on an Air India flight in March. Unfazed and unremorseful, Reddy boarded an Emirates flight to Dubai with his morning walkers group. He also promised to "raise the issue in the Lok Sabha. I'll fight to protect my rights both as an individual and as an MP". Notably, the TDP MP was involved in a similar fracas with Air India staffers at the Vijayawada airport last October.

Barely a week earlier, the MP's son-in-law, G. Deepak Reddy, elected to the Legislative Council in March, was charged with falsifying documents to grab government land worth Rs 160 crore. CM Naidu lost no time in suspending the MLC from the party. "There is no question of tolerating anybody bringing a bad name to the party. We should not forget we are in public life," he said.

But it didn't end there. Just last month, Naidu suspended another party member, V. Narayana Reddy, who was booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation for using forged documents to secure a Rs 190 crore bank loan. In March, Naidu forced Kesineni Srinivas, another party MP, to tender an unconditional apology to the state transport commissioner, N. Balasubramanyam. Srinivas and his cronies had thrashed the officer's gunman and abused him in his Vijayawada office for questioning irregularities in inter-state luxury bus operations, unauthorised and illegal bus services.