Kiran will cause Congress decimation: Ravindra

• Ad blitzkrieg only to promote CM's image
• Thousands throng DL's road shows

Kadapa : Sacked minister D L Ravindra Reddy claimed here on Wednesday that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy was 'determined to bury the party' in the ensuing elections and that people were not getting any benefit from the government's welfare schemes. Addressing four meetings as part of a 'Swagatha Yatra', Ravindra Reddy alleged that funds were being spent only for advertisements showing Kiran Reddy. The Chief Minister, he observed, was giving importance to only the word spread by 'thieves' and 'old foxes'.

He hit out at strongly at MLA Veerashiva Reddy and former legislator Varadarajulu Reddy, even while pledging loyalty to the party, UPA and AICC president Sonia Gandhi. The former Health minister addressed meetings at Idamadaka, Duvvur, Mydukur and Khazipet near Chagalamarry on the Kadapa- Kurnool border. Thousands of his followers riding hundreds of vehicles participated in the rally and attended the meetings.

Ravindra Reddy quipped that he was 'humiliated' and 'rewarded 'for his 35-year-long service to the party. He had never aspired for posts and hankered for power; the party high command had made him a minister. He recalled writing to Sonia Gandhi in 2012 seeking her permission to resign. He denied seeking replacement of Kiran Reddy.

He expressed anguish over his dismissal, without any intimation, while on a foreign trip. 'If the Chief Minister had asked for my resignation, either through phone of fax, I would have offered it with my left hand. It is regrettable that the CM did not show even the minimum courtesy', Ravindra Reddy observed.