Urban apathy could elect rowdies as MLAs: Naini Rajender Reddy

Hanumakonda: Warangal West MLA Naini Rajender Reddy warned that a decline in voting percentage in urban areas could pave the way for “goons and rowdies” to get elected and rule. He urged city residents to stepout of their homes and exercise their franchise in the upcoming elections.

Addressing a press conference at his camp office in Balasamudram, Hanumakonda, on Tuesday, the MLA said that many urban voters tend to remain indoors on polling day, assuming others would stand in queues and vote. He observed that such indifference leads to a fall in voter turnout, creating opportunities for undesirable elements to enter the Assembly. Expressing concern over the trend, he appealed to educated and informed citizens to actively participate in the democratic process.

The MLA launched a sharp attack on leaders of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), alleging that their politics revolved solely around money-making. He claimed that after hampering development during their ten-year rule, they were now touring districts “like a Gemini Circus” and relying on criticism as their primary political tool. With no development works to showcase, they were confining themselves to daily allegations, he said. Referring to the multi-speciality hospital project, he stated that the government had been conducting a comprehensive review over the past three days.

He remarked that those who could not complete the project in a decade were now inspecting it and criticising it, which he described as shameful. He said it was inappropriate to judge a nearly completed hospital merely by observing it from the outside and explained that some delay was natural as advanced equipment such as CT scan and MRI machines were being imported from abroad.

Posing direct questions to former Warangal leaders, he asked whether they had ever questioned their leadership when the united Warangal district was bifurcated or when funds were allocated. He challenged them to a public debate on the extent of development during their tenure compared with the progress achieved in the last two years.

He alleged that leaders who had amassed crores of rupees under benami names were now speaking about transparency, adding that the public was closely observing these developments. He also criticised projects announced in the name of textiles which, he claimed, had not progressed beyond the foundation stage.

Asserting that significant development was taking place under the Congress government, he said works undertaken in the last two and a half years were progressing without irregularities. He clarified that there was no commission pressure on contractors and invited constructive suggestions, while emphasising that he did not encourage politics of attacks.

Appealing once again to urban voters, he said that if citizens failed to exercise their right to vote, anti-social elements could assume power. He stressed that the people’s verdict was final and urged voters to choose the right leader in the forthcoming elections.