Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday used some strong words against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning “his maturity in politics and four-year-long silence on his promise to stem corruption.”
Mr. Naidu was addressing a public meeting at Peruru village of Ramagiri mandal in Raptadu Assembly constituency, after launching the ₹850-crore Paritala Ravindra canal works, connecting the HNSS project with the reconstructed Peruru reservoir.
Mr. Naidu said it was ridiculous on the part of Mr. Modi to question his maturity level in politics.
Reference to ‘A1 and A2’
In a sarcastic tone, Mr. Naidu said: “Is he (Mr. Modi) such matured? Everybody knows that I had become the Chief Minister much before him.”
Referring to Mr. Modi’s promises in the run-up to the 2014 elections that he would stem the scourge of corruption at the highest level within one year of coming to power and recover the money earned through corrupt means and deposit the same (₹15 lakh) into the bank accounts of the common people, Mr. Naidu questioned, “What has happened to these promises? Is he (Mr. Modi) blind to the corrupt dealings of YSR Congress Party leaders? The A1 and A2 (in an oblique reference to YSRCP president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Rajya Sabha member V. Vijaya Sai Reddy) are allowed to sit in the Prime Minister Office.”
Stating that a vote for the YSRCP would help its leaders get relief from criminal cases pending against them, Mr. Naidu said, “Fear of landing in jail is the reason for the YSRCP leaders’ subservience to the NDA government.”
Dig at Pawan
Training his gun on Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan, the Chief Minister said, “The JSP chief had said he would fight for the development of Anantapur district and garner support for the TDP’s no-trust motion against the Centre. Believing and following such leaders, who have no understanding and conviction, will lead us nowhere.”
Reiterating that his stand on the Special Category Status was not a “U-turn but a right turn,” Mr. Naidu said he had full understanding of the situation and would always take the right decision at the right moment. Terming the fight against the NDA government as one between “majority and morality,” he said the Centre was deliberately resorting to double standards on the railway zone with Visakhapatnam as headquarters, steel plant in Kadapa, and SCS.
Dalits and downtrodden sections were feeling insecure under the NDA regime, he alleged.
Referring to the State’s share in the KG Basin, Mr. Naidu said the ONGC was earning profit because of its explorations in the KG Basin. But the NDA government was unwilling to help the State, he added.
Kapu quota
On Mr. Jagan’s stand on the Kapu reservation issue, Mr. Naidu said the YSRCP leader was desperate to save his face following public furore.
Mr. Naidu said the Peruru reservoir would provide water to more than 10,000 acres. He said the HNSS water would be extended to Madakasira. He said Kia Motors was a boon to the people of the region. If necessary, another airport would be built in Anantapur, apart from the one existing in Puttaparthi. He said steps were afoot to construct a four-lane highway from Anantapur to Amaravati to enable people to travel to the Capital city in just four hours.
Earlier, Mr. Naidu laid stone for various projects during the Grama Darsini programme. Ministers P. Sunitha, K. Srinivasulu, Parthasarathy, and D. Umamaheswara Rao were present.
