The Election Commission (EC) should not remain a silent spectator to the “blatant abuse” of media by the YSR Congress Party in Nandyal where a byelection was going to be held, said Minister for Water Resources Devineni Umamaheswara Rao on Saturday.
Addressing a press conference here, the Minister said it was not “fair” for the Election Commission to allow the continuous telecast of anti-government programmes by a television channel owned by the relatives of YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Mr. Jagan was claiming that he did not have the backing of any television channel, but his family members owned a channel and a newspaper, he said. The Election Commission should initiate action against the YSR Congress Party “suo motu”, he said.
Mr. Jagan had been saying Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu should be hit with footwear, shot and hanged, but the Leader of the Opposition was not realising that what the people had already done to his party in the elections three years ago was equivalent to it.
Mr. Naidu had done in three years what Mr. Jagan’s “family did not care to do in 40 years”. Despite several difficulties that cropped up because of bifurcation, Mr. Naidu managed to complete irrigation projects that were left unfinished by former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, and supplied water to the Pulivendula Assembly Constituency from where Mr. Jagan was elected, the Minister said.
The Telugu Desam government sanctioned ₹34,000 crore for the completion of several irrigation projects. “During the Congress regime corruption flowed in the canals, but after the TDP came to power water is flowing in them.”
‘Cheap tactics’
Mr. Jagan talked a lot about belonging to a prestigious family of his region, but all his actions were lowly and cheap. At the top of the long list of cheap tactics was getting a woman MLA (R.K. Roja) to scold three Ministers — Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy and himself. Mr. Jagan should directly attack us if he had guts, the Minister challenged.
