Opposition parties in the State came in for sharp attack at the JNNURM housing scheme inauguration by Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeswari on Friday.
Targeting the main opposition TDP, she lambasted former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for his contradictory stand. “He is stating that his yatra is not for the sake of power, in the same breath he is talking about signing on one file or the other if voted to power,” she said. The Union Minister was addressing a meeting after inaugurating 96 houses constructed at a cost of Rs.2.03 crore at Relliveedhi in Rajendranagar. She and MLA Tyanala Vijay Kumar gave away bank linkage worth Rs.98 lakh to 34 groups and Rs.93,000 towards Abhayahastam scholarship to 73 students.
Ms. Purandeswari reminded the gathering, mostly consisting of poorer sections, that people reposed faith in the Congress and gave it a second successive term in 2009. Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, who had ridiculed that free power would reduce power cables to clothesline was now talking about giving power free of cost and incentives to farmers who he says were in deep trouble. She recalled that it was during the TDP regime that the tariff for horsepower had been increased from Rs.50 to Rs.625.
The Union Minister also took on the recently launched parties for stating that the Congress government’s welfare programmes were being diluted and claiming that they were its own programmes. It’s a known fact that parties go to people on the basis of manifestoes. Minister for Investment and Infrastructure Ganta Srinivasa Rao said it was important to improve the conditions in which people in slums lived even as everyone talked about how beautiful Visakhapatnam was. Mr. Vijay Kumar, who presided, said Congress was working for improving the lot of people and continuing the welfare and development programmes.
