Bharatiya Janata Party’s National Secretary and Andhra Pradesh co-incharge Sunil V. Deodhar on Saturday urged voters to “teach a lesson” to the YSR Congress Party in the State in the ensuing byelections for the Tirupati Lok Sabha seat, for pursuing ‘anti-people’ policies.
Sounding the poll bugle from Gudur town in Nellore district, which forms part of the SC (Reserved) Tirupati Parliamentary constituency, Mr. Deodhar said the ruling YSRCP, which had been voted to power with a thumping majority in 2019, had lost the confidence of the people in a short period.
“A Lord Vinayaka idol going missing from Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s home constituency of Pulivendula shows that the ruling party has lost its grip over the administration,” claimed the ‘Pracharak’ of the BJP’s parent organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Mr. Deodhar, who was instrumental in bringing the BJP to power in North-eastern States, castigated the Jagan Mohan Reddy Government for its alleged failure to protect places of worship in the State and said that people of Andhra Pradesh were keen on seeing the present dispensation go.
“The YSRCP came to power with the slogan ‘Ravali Jagan, Kavali Jagan’, but now, people of the State are saying ‘Povali Jagan, Povali Babu’, and are chanting ‘Ravali BJP, Ravali Pawan’,” Mr. Deodhar quipped to loud cheers from the crowd.
Accusing the ruling YSRCP and opposition TDP of pursuing ‘dynastic politics’, Mr. Deodhar said it was only in the BJP where people from the lower strata of society could rise up the ladder, promising to replicate the ‘Gujarat model of development’ in Andhra Pradesh if the BJP came to power in the State.
The opposition TDP had never won the seat in the past, he recalled, adding that it would continue its losing streak in the future too. He recalled the relentless efforts of BJP leader Dr. N. Venkataswamy in developing the constituency when he bagged the seat in 1999.
BJP State president Somu Veerraju, party SC wing State president G. Devanand, former State Minister Ravela Kishore Babu, and BJP State vice-president K. Vijayalakshmi addressed a ‘Save Andhra temples’ rally organised by the BJP SC Morcha.
