TDP MLAs and senior leaders of the party will meet in Vijayawada on May 29 for a detailed analysis of the reasons behind the rout of the party this general elections, former HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, who won from Visakhapatnam North Assembly, has said.
‘Naidu not to be blamed’
The former Minister, who won the elections from different constituencies in the district during the last 20 years, said winning and losing is a part and parcel of any political parties. He was replying to a query at a ‘Meet the Press’ programme organised by the Vizag Journalists’ Forum (VJF) here on Sunday.
Saying that it was wrong to blame caretaker Chief Minister and TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu and for the poll debacle, Mr. Srinivasa Rao expressed optimism.
“The TDP will rise like a phoenix and emerge successful in the next elections. Optimism has been the strength of the party and it has been proved time and again. When actor Chiranjeevi established the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), many thought it was the death knell for the TDP going by the exodus of leaders. But, it did not happen,” he said.
Welfare schemes
When the TDP assumed power in 2014, he said, the fledgling State had a deficit budget, no capital and the Centre failed to help.
“Despite all these problems, the Chandrababu Naidu government had completed the Pattiseema project in a record time, gave old-age pensions, allowance to unemployed youth and sops to various sections of the society.
Describing the 55 lakh party workers and the organisational structure as TDP’s strength, Mr. Srinivasa Rao thanked the voters for reposing faith and electing the party candidates in all the four Assembly segments in the city limit. “It was the first major setback for the TDP since its formation. However, the elected TDP MLAs will strive to resolve all the pending issues,” he said.
VVPAT
Referring to the malfunctioning of VVPATs, the former Minister said: “In today’s technology, nothing is impossible and everything can be controlled through remote. Even advanced countries are going for manual voting. The VVPAT slips can be counted easily and we sought 100 % counting of VVPATs, but the Election Commission of India had turned down our plea.”
“We will make united efforts to address issues pertaining to the city,” he said.
The former HRD Minister congratulated Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his team on the success. VJF president Gantla Srinu Babu presided over the meeting.
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