All eyes were on Naidu ever since the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill-2013 was tabled in the Assembly on December 16 and the debate on it started on January 8. As Leader of Opposition, Naidu would have got the first opportunity to speak in any debate but this time he gave the chance to his party colleagues to speak first.
Normally, the Chief Minister would speak only after the Leader of Opposition had his turn but on this Bill, CM Kiran Kumar went ahead even before Naidu got to speak. “Paucity of time” forced the CM to get into the debate ahead of the Opposition leader as the original deadline for completing the debate on the Bill was to end on January 23.
But, even after a week's additional time was given to the House, Naidu did not get the opportunity to speak as the Assembly was stuck in pandemonium in the last four days though he was prepared to address the Assembly on January 27. TDP legislators admit in private that it was indeed a “blessing is disguise” for their leader to have been “deprived” of the chance to speak on the issue in Assembly. Naidu would perhaps be the only Leader of Opposition whose views remain unrecorded in the official documents over the bifurcation of a state.
