Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday likened the fight against the Modi government to the one waged by Vietnamese people against the American forces.
Addressing party cadres at a function hall in Anantapur, Mr. Naidu said like the Vietnamese who inflicted a heavy blow on U.S. military personnel, every person from the 5 crore population of Andhra Pradesh must fight for self-respect.
He appealed to cadres to go to people and remind them of the way they had voted 10 MLAs back to power and reinstated N.T. Rama Rao as Chief Minister. “Now you must send all 14 candidates as MLAs so that the development continues.”
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‘On development path’
He said some channels were giving 22 Lok Sabha seats to the YSRCP, and wanted to know on what basis they had arrived at the figure. Mr. Naidu accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy as a pawn to stall the development in the State. For the first time, all the party nominees were seen on the dais.
Addressing an election rally at the STBC grounds in Kurnool, Mr. Naidu said but for the efforts of his government, Rayalaseema would have turned into ‘rallaseema.’
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He said strides had been made in developing horticulture in the region. “Kurnool has made more profits than West Godavari and East Godavari in the last few years,” claimed Mr Naidu. “We will ensure the region is transformed into ‘Ratnalaseema,’ he added.
On irrigation projects, he said 95 % of Galeru-Nagiri works had been completed and Polavaram dam works were progressing at a brisk pace.
He announced that T.G. Bharath would the MLA candidate from the city and S.V Mohan Reddy, the sitting MLA, would be given other responsibilities. On the Srisailam front, he asked MLA Budda Rajasekhara Reddy, who wanted to quit politics due to his wife’s ill-health, to continue as the party’s candidate, and promised all support to the family from the party.
‘An inside job’
Addressing a preparatory meting ‘Ennikala Sannahaka Samavesam’ in Kadapa, Mr. Naidu took the Vivekananda Reddy murder case straight to the doorstep of Kadapa, the home turf of Mr. Jagan, and sought justice from local people. He flayed the YSRCP chief for making “Pulivendula the hub of criminal activities.”
“When his paternal uncle has no security, will he spare you and me?” he asked. He alleged that insiders in the YS family hatched a conspiracy to ‘eliminate’ Vivekananda Reddy.
Mr. Naidu appealed to people to look beyond caste, religion and region to cast their vote for a stable government and better administration. Later, he introduced the candidates to the gathering.