Alleging that his name was needlessly dragged into the Paradise Papers issue, Opposition leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday gave a fortnight’s ultimatum to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to prove that he had deposited money abroad. He offered to quit politics if the charge could be proved.
“Will Mr. Chandrababu Naidu resign as Chief Minister and quit politics if he failed to prove the charge,” Mr. Jagan asked addressing the people near the Sri Sangameswara temple junction at Veerapunayunipalle in the Kamalapuram constituency on the third day of his Praja Sankalpa Yatra in Kadapa district. He accused the Chief Minister and his ‘pet media’ of spreading false propaganda against him whenever he planned any big programme.
The YSR Congress would not have lost the Nandyal by-election had he deposited funds abroad.
He accused Mr. Naidu of distributing between ₹6,000 and ₹10,000 to each voter in the constituency. Mr. Naidu was spending black money to engineer the defection of the Opposition legislators into the Telugu Desam Party by offering crores, he alleged.
Mr. Chandrababu Naidu was caught red-handed in audio and video tapes when he tried to lure an MLA in Telangana, Mr. Jagan said. He charged Mr. Naidu with speaking of morals but acting to the contrary. Canards were spread against him on the eve of the 2014 elections that he was allying with the Bharatiya Janata Party in a bid to antagonise the minorities against him, he said.
Mr. Jagan claimed that he believed in clean politics and would not fear anyone. “YSR’s son would not resort to murky politics.” The YSRC president began his 16.2-km padayatra on Wednesday at Nelathimayapalle village after hoisting the party flag and participating in a prayer along with Muslims.
He gave a patient hearing to the woes of the villagers of Ramireddipalle and assured to resolve them if his party gained power.
The party’s U.S. convenor Ratnakar and his team participated in the padayatra. Muslim women took selfies with Mr. Jagan and he greeted women, farmers and youth en route. His padayatra passed through Palagiri junction and Veerapunayunipalle and made a night halt at Urutur.
