VIJAYAWADA: TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu has asserted that the State will witness more injustice, if Telugu Desam will not come to power in the next elections. Defending his statement that the 2024 elections will be his last, if he is not voted to power during the visit to Kurnool district, Naidu maintained that he made the comment to protect the State from the looting YSRC mafia. “No one can save the State in case of TDP defeat in the next elections,’’ he averred. At the same breath, he made it clear that he is not aspiring for any posts for himself and party leaders. “My intention is only to safeguard the interests of the State,’’ he asserted.
“I served as the Chief Minister for nine years and 10 years as the leader of opposition in the combined Andhra Pradesh. No one can break that record,” he maintained.Addressing the TDP general body meeting after launching ‘Idemi Kharma’ (What is this ill-fate?), an agitational programme, at the party headquarters in Mangalagiri on Saturday, Naidu alleged that the State witnessed a lot of destruction in the past three-and-a-half-years. The TDP has taken up a series of protests under the banner ‘Badude Badudu’ against the ‘anti-poor’ policies of the YSRC government.
Claiming that the TDP is synonymous with welfare and development, he said for the first time in his life he is witnessing such a hostile government. “For the first time, I am witnessing the rude behaviour of police and administration. Though we have been waging legal battles, the police are resorting to illegal arrests and torturing our activists,” he lamented. Naidu once again reiterated that once the TDP returns to power, action will be initiated against the erring police officials.
“Though I am pained at these incidents, I have to move on democratic lines and follow the rules,” he said, adding that troubles are being created at the public meetings being addressed by TDP leaders. Several obstructions were created even for Mahanadu. People who attended the meeting, firmly resisted the police, he recalled. The turnout for his Nandigama meeting is a record, Naidu said, adding “I have never seen such a huge crowd for a public meeting both in Nandigama and Kurnool.”
Expressing happiness over the huge turnout for his recent meetings, Naidu felt that it was a clear indication that the people were disgusted with the style of functioning of the YSRC government and they want the TDP back in power. “Even the people of Kurnool are making fun of the decentralisation slogan of the YSRC regime,’’ he revealed.
“Jagan categorically agreed for Amaravati to be the capital when the bill was introduced in the State Assembly. YSRC leaders said their leader built his house in Amaravati. Why did not the YSRC leaders ask for Kurnool as the judicial capital of the State at that time?” he questioned.
Observing that an awareness has been brought among the people by the TDP through the Badude Badudu, he is of the opinion that Jagan cannot escape from the cases that he is facing now. “If the TDP cannot come back to power in the coming elections, no power on earth can save the State,” Naidu declared.
He called upon TDP leaders to take the initiative to bring more awareness among the public on the need for the TDP to come back to power in the coming polls and take the ongoing ‘Idemi Kharma’ seriously.
Under ‘Idemi Kharma’ , the TDP has decided to conduct State-wide protests highlighting the poor governance, issues faced by people, and the downward trajectory of the State’s growth curve in the three-and-a-half years of the YSRC regime, by reaching out to households through a door-to-door campaign.
The TDP rank and file is set to reach out to all the households in the State within a span of 45 days. Through the protest programme, the TDP wants to highlight 10 major issues faced by the people of the State.