Minister for Water Resources Devineni Umamaheswara Rao on Saturday alleged that the recent defections from the TDP to the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) were part of the BJP’s strategy to get candidates who could contest for the parliamentary constituencies for the YSRCP. The BJP had the support of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in this endeavour, he alleged. Addressing the media, he said that leaders who had work with the Centre and others who had interests in Hyderabad were being pressurised to defect to the YSRCP, he said.
As part of this “vicious campaign” orchestrated by the BJP and the TRS, leaders like Dasari Jai Ramesh who made the maximum use of the TDP were trying to sling mud at it now. He said the TDP gave ticket to Mr. Jai Ramesh and his brother Balavardhana Rao several times to contest from the Gannavaram Assembly and the Vijayawada parliamentary constituencies, but now they had defected.
When N.T. Rama Rao was Chief Minister, Mr Jai Ramesh’s industries benefited tremendously. But these leaders were nowhere to be see when the TDP was out of power for 10 years, he said.
Now, all of a sudden, they had become very close to YSRCP leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, said.
Corruption charges
Mr. Jai Ramesh talking about corruption in the TDP was ridiculous considering that he had just joined the YSRCP, the leaders of which were facing several corruption cases and some of them even went to jail for 16 months in connection with them.
‘Naidu honest leader’
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on the other hand was the most hard working and honest leader in politics today. He was working without rest to help 54 lakh pensioners and 94 lakh DWCRA members and others through various pensions, the Minister said.
