Government Adviser (Public Affairs) and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena Party (JSP) put up a show of unity at the Praja Galam public meeting near Chilakaluripet on March 17, but people were not fools to believe their pre-poll machinations.
The three leaders enacted a similar drama 10 years ago and have just repeated it for the sake of power, without committing to do what the State requires. They launched a diatribe against Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy while dodging the issues which Andhra Pradesh continued to grapple with since bifurcation, he alleged.
Addressing media persons on Monday, Mr. Reddy said forging alliances was not new for Mr. Naidu, and questioned what the allies did for Andhra Pradesh in 2014 when they ruled the State. They had once again stitched the “opportunistic alliance”.
He said Mr. Modi compared the YSRCP and Indian National Congress (INC) to the two sides of a coin, while Mr. Naidu tried to strike a chord with the masses by saying that Mr. Jagan’ s sisters Sharmila and Suneetha cautioned them against voting for YSRCP. This was all a mind game being played by the allies to quench their thirst for power.
Mr. Reddy further said Mr. Naidu and Mr. Kalyan failed to make the Prime Minister to promise to confer Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh and give other assurances. Instead, the trio had confined to criticising Mr. Jagan and his government.
He said Y.S. Sharmila was free to contest from anywhere including as MP candidate from Kadapa, but one should not overlook the fact that her party failed to garner more votes than those polled in the NOTA category.
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy might be nurturing his own dreams about his party’s poll prospects in Andhra Pradesh but he would soon know who won the hearts of the people in the last five years. The YSRCP was confident of retaining power having delivered all its promises, Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy added.
