During the past five years of the YSRCP regime, the people of Andhra Pradesh have witnessed uncertainty over the capital city. Some Indian maps show that the State has no capital, allege TDP leaders. Ongole MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, who recently left YSRCP and joined the TDP, in an interaction with The Hindu, said: “Everybody is expecting that NDA, headed by N. Chandrababu Naidu, will form the next government in Andhra Pradesh. People of the State are unhappy about the rising prices under the YSRCP rule and they are looking towards better administration.” “Over the last five years, A.P.’s financial situation has become horrible. Only Chandrababu Naidu can revive the State in this condition. He can take up development activities without borrowing more money. The alliance government will complete all the projects that were held up for a long time. The new government will also control the price rise in the future,” he said. Masses gather whenever the alliance parties organize a road show or public meeting in AP. Even during high temperatures, there was heavy turnout. Thousands of people stood in the hot sun to listen to the speeches of Naidu and Jana Sena Chief Pawan Kalyan. This clearly shows that the people want the NDA to form government in the State. Thrashing the allegations of no unity among the parties in NDA, Sreenivasulu Reddy says: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come to A.P. to campaign for the alliance. Pawan Kalyan has also been co-operating with Telugu Desam cadres. He spoke for one hour recently at Giddalur facing the heat of 44 degrees Celsius.” Expressing similar views, former Union Minister and TDP leader Panabaka Lakshmi said, “People are expecting change. The State needs a visionary and experienced leader like Chandrababu Niadu. He has plans to uplift the poor, unemployed youth and farmers.” “Our manifesto has given more priority to women. It offers free bus travel to all women in the State and a monthly pension for all needy women. Every mother will get ₹15,000 per annum under the ‘Talliki Vandanam’ scheme and three gas cylinders per household under the Deepam scheme. DWCRA women will get interest-free loans up to ₹10 lakh,” she said. The manifesto also announced 20 lakh jobs for youth or ₹3,000 monthly unemployment aid. It assured a tap water connection to every house, particularly in the Rayalaseema region where women are facing a severe water crisis. However, the manifesto did not mention about 4 per cent reservation for Muslims, as announced by the former Chief Minister. When asked about the decision of the alliance, Lakshmi said: “Union Home Minister Amit Shah has clearly announced that they have no plans to remove the 4 per cent reservation for Muslim minorities in AP. The BJP leaders are cooperating with the State for the welfare of all castes and religions in the State. The alliance will see good turnout and get succeeded in the elections.” She further alleged that the people of AP will teach a lesson to Jagan for throwing the State into bankruptcy. However, the YSRCP supremo claims huge development and several investments in the State during his term as Chief Minister. In a recent public meeting at Nellore, he said: “AP has received investments worth more than ₹1 lakh crore during last five years, while it had seen only Rs 32,000 crore investments during the TDP rule.”
