Blowing the poll bugle, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has signalled to his party workers to get ready for the ‘election season’.
“The panchayat elections are coming in June and the municipal and local body polls in July/August. Be prepared,” he said at Chandragiri, where the Aadhaar-based direct benefit payment system through postal accounts was launched at a public meeting on Saturday. The Chief Minister, who got his head tonsured before offering prayers to Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala on Saturday morning, appeared energetic all through the public meeting. He eulogized the scheme for reducing the scope for pilferage. When his announcement on the proposed scheme to offer subsidised groceries from Ugadi was met with thunderous response from the womenfolk, Mr. Reddy asked if the men were not impressed at the offer, pointing to the indifference in the gallery meant for men.
Calling TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu his ‘walking friend’, Mr. Reddy snubbed him for making tall promises throughout his walkathon, forgetting that he had actually failed to deliver the same during his regime.
When Member of Parliament (Tirupati) Chinta Mohan translated the English address of Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh, occasionally elaborating on and digressing from the theme, the latter laughed and expressed doubt if his translator was adding ‘more masala’ to his speech than was required.
