Back TDP for growth

Kadapa: In what appeared like sounding the election bugle, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday sought to enlist the support of the people for another term in office in the state to help him rescue the state from the cruel clutches of betrayers – BJP and the YSRCP.

“In the interest of the state, support the Telugu Desam Party in the next elections, which would be a fitting reply to the BJP and the YSRCP for their nefarious designs to thwart the development process initiated which I have initiated in the state,” he said.

Taking part in the ongoing Nava Nirmana Deeksha here, after visiting Chennam Rajpalli, Nagayapalli in Proddaturu mandals as part of his grama darshini programme, Naidu underscored the need for electing the TDP candidates in the election for the 25 Lok Sabha seats, thus inflicting a crushing defeat on the BJP and ensuring continuity of development programmes he had taken up.

The Chief Minister, tearing into the resignation “charade” played out by the YSRCP MPs, contended that they had put in their papers knowing fully well that even if they are accepted, there was no way byelections could be held since the Election Commission will not hold bypolls if the time left for general elections is less than one year. “These resignations are a sham. They are not genuine. The Centre too is acting in consort with the YSRCP and hence the delay in accepting the resignations,” he said.

Defending stoutly his decision to strike electoral alliance with the BJP in 2014 and then settling for special package in lieu of special category status, Naidu said that when he did this, what was uppermost in his mind was the progress and prosperity of the state.

“I had thought the BJP would help the state recover from the trauma of bifurcation caused by the Congress. Now it is clear that both the Congress and BJP had turned out to be betrayers of trust of the people of the state, one for dividing the state irrationally and the other for not giving the necessary succor it required to forget the nightmare and move forward,” he said.

He said betrayal comes as second nature for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “As soon as he came to power, he dumped party seniors like LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi who were the face of the party and who had built it brick by brick.

After tasting defeat in the recent by elections, Modi is now falling at the feet of the other seniors in the party, who had since been marginalised, seeking advice to keep the BJP applecart on course,” he said.

Naidu, referring to the tough journey had had till now, said that he was not daunted by lack of resources and the attitude of friends who turned into foes at the helm at Delhi and worked hard and while doing so he had achieved remarkable results. “I walked alone without the help from any quarter. I will continue to do even if everyone turns against me. May aim is to make this land a happy place for people to live,” he said.

As funds are required to fire the dormant economy, Naidu said he had focused on infrastructure and education by allocating Rs 4,300 crore. In the interest of providing employment to the youth, his government had signed 2,284 Memoranda of Under Standing (MOUs) with companies for netting an investment of Rs.12 lakh crore.

He reiterated his commitment to completing the irrigations projects in Kadapa district and said that the works for the second phase of Galeru Nagari Sujala Sravanthi will begin soon.