Parakala Prabhakar, Nirmala Sitharaman's husband, quits as AP communications advisor
After continuous attacks by the opposition, Parakala Prabhakar, Communications Advisor to the AP government and husband of Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, resigned today. Parties have been lashing out at the N Chandrababu Naidu government for keeping Prabhakar, who has family links with TDP's former ally BJP, at such a position. Prabhakar says he wasn't bothered till "responsible opposition leaders" like Jaganmohan Reddy also made similar comments.
TDP split with BJP over special category status in March
TDP and BJP have been at loggerheads since years, as the former insisted on special status for AP and the latter consistently refused. Tension reached a high during Budget'18, when the southern party accused its former ally of making "insufficient" allocations. In March, it first pulled out its ministers from the NDA government before formally announcing a split.
'Doesn't hurt when unknown leaders pass comments'
Since then, Prabhakar has been at the receiving end of constant rebuke, he said. "A few opposition leaders are questioning why you have accommodated me, even as you fight with the BJP and the Union government," his resignation letter to Naidu said. When "unknown leaders" say something, he doesn't bother, but when people like Reddy "reduce your struggle and commitment...that hurt me a lot."
'You have complete trust in me, you are broad-minded'
"Claims are being made that because my family member belongs to another party, and has different political views, I might compromise on the state's interest," Prabhakar writes. "Mature people will have their own political opinions and their relationship will not come in the way (of their work)." He also praised Naidu's "broad-mindedness": "As I brought this matter to your notice, you said that you have complete trust in me."
A brief history of Parakala Prabhakar's life
Prabhakar was the spokesperson of the erstwhile Praja Rajyam Party, founded by actor-politician Chiranjeevi. The party then merged with Congress, post which he tried to fight from Narsapur on a Congress ticket in 1994. He also shared close ties with former PM PV Narasimha Rao.
