Andhra Pradesh: Nirmala Sitharaman's husband quits Naidu government

HYDERABAD: Parakala Prabhakar, Union defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s husband, resigned as Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s communications advisor on Tuesday after serving the Telugu Desam Party government in the cabinet rank position for four years since June 2014.

In a letter to Naidu on Tuesday, Prabhakar said he was pained by accusations of opposition leaders that his presence in Andhra government signalled dishonesty in Naidu’s fight against the Centre.

“Some (in opposition) are campaigning that I will compromise on the interests of Andhra since members of my family (wife Sitharaman) are in other party (BJP) with differing political viewpoints. These words have pained me,” Prabhakar said in the letter, adding that what pained him most was accusations by the YSR Congress Party president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.


Naidu had pulled out of the NDA government in March, accusing his ally BJP of betraying the people of Andhra Pradesh on special category status.