Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday announced that he would launch his 117-day ‘Vastunna Meekosam Padayatra’ from Hindupur in Anantapur district, once represented by party founder N.T. Rama Rao, on October 2.
“Through the padayatra, the party will reassure people that the TDP will be on their side in fighting problems, remind them of the good work it had done when it was in power and also spell out its future plans, if voted to regain power apart from discussing present problems,” Mr. Naidu told party leaders at the two-day executive meet here. Significantly, Mr. Naidu’s brother-in-law and Rajya Sabha member N. Harikrishna, who had been maintaining a distance with party affairs, attended the meeting.
Mr. Naidu devoted most of his speech to criticise the Congress rule, its leaders’ corruption and the problems being faced by the people. He stated that Congress was getting weakened across the country and the country would witness a sea change in the political scene after 2014 elections. As the BJP and NDA were not in a position to make gains, the regional parties would play a key role, he noted.
Political gain
On the Telangana issue, Mr. Naidu said he would talk to the party leaders of the region for the next two days to come to a decision. People were watching the Congress’ attitude of looking for only political gain from the issue, he said.
Earlier, a few Telangana leaders went into huddle with disappointment over Mr. Naidu not elaborating on the party’s stand on the issue. “How could we face people if the party fails to give clarity before Telangana March on September 30?” a senior leader said.
When asked about the issue, Mr. Harikrishna, who attended a party meeting after a long gap, said he would go with the people. Meanwhile, a few Seemandhra leaders felt that giving a letter in support of Telangana would make things difficult for Mr. Naidu during his padayatra in Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra areas.
