Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday praised former Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao sky high for his political acumen in bringing the entire Opposition on to one platform and taking on the then behemoth Congress party for Telugu pride.
Interacting with the BJP grassroots level workers in five parliamentary constituencies in Andhra Pradesh through video-conference, he said “Chandrababu Naidu cheated NTR not once but twice. It is ridiculous to see NTR’s son-in-law bend before Congress party to remain in power.”
He asked Mr. Naidu how he could daydream of becoming Prime Minister while he was a failure as Chief Minister. Mr. Modi sought to know how ‘Telugu Pride’ was served by abusing the BJP and the Centre day-in and day-out?
Making fun of the ‘Sunrise State’ tag, he advised the Chief Minister to put Andhra Pradesh above his personal political interests “otherwise it will be Sunset of the State”. The Prime Minister opined Mr. Naidu never talked about the OBCs, the SCs, the STs and the Backward Classes, but promoted his son in the name of ‘Sunrise State’.
Asking party workers to penetrate further into the villages and visit every household to explain the welfare schemes of the Centre and how the TDP was misusing funds and renaming schemes, he said it was the responsibility of every citizen to vote out this family rule culture to usher in the real ‘Swarnandhra Pradesh’.
A party worker, Tejaswini, from Narpala in Anantapur district told Mr. Modi that he was the last hope for the farmers of the drought-affected Rayalaseema region. She said there was no promise of the Special Category Status for A.P. and time was being wasted to achieve that as though it was one-stop solution for all problems.
Replying to her, Mr. Modi said the youth of the country must prepare a roadmap for the victory of the party in the 2019 General Elections. A mechanical engineer, she works for an NGO.
Dismissing the oft-repeated allegation of the State government that the Centre was not releasing funds for projects in Andhra Pradesh, he said people should make use of the RTI and seek information on submission of the Utilisation Certificates and bring out the truth.
Party leaders Srinath Reddy and Y. Satya Kumar from Kadapa sought steps from the Centre to establish steel plant and that Mr. Naidu was trying to hijack the credit by bringing in some private partner. Party State vice-president S. Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, national secretary Muralidharan and others were present in Anantapur.
Steps to bring the party to power
Several BJP sympathisers and workers in the temple town Srikalahasti were thrilled to participate in the video conference with Mr. Modi and listen to him speak directly on the steps to bring the party to power.
The video-conference for the Tirupati parliamentary constituency was held at Srikalahasti, an Assembly segment in which the party saw huge potential. It was a sea of saffron at the convention hall where the event was held as party functionaries from across the district had converged at the venue.
Mr. Modi sought to know how the party was functioning in the State and its prospects, apart from quizzing the members on the efforts needed at the top level to cut ice with the public. Kola Visalakshi, booth committee president and spouse of Kola Anand, former Srikalahasti Devasthanam chairperson, explained how the State government had dumped the party after reaping all benefits in the form of financial support and projecting as if the Centre had meted out a raw deal.
“Tirupati has been declared a smart city. Srikalahasti Assembly segments boasts of several projects like IIT, IISER, upgrade to international airport and finally a place under AMRUT scheme. Still, the State makes a hue and cry that the Centre had not done anything to the State,” she said.
Tirupati constituency convener Iska Sunil, city unit president Varaprasad and others lamented that the State government was misusing the Janmabhoomi Maa Ooru platform to spread canards against the Centre.
