VIJAYAWADA : TDP supremo N Naidu on Friday accused Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for hatching conspiracies that have claimed lives of innocent pensioners. Demanding Jagan to resign as Chief Minister, Naidu accused the YSRC president of habitually resorting to cheap politics over death of people.
Speaking to mediapersons at Nallajerla in East Godavari district on Friday, the TDP chief stated that though the Election Commission of India (ECI) did not object to the distribution of pensions at the doorstep of the beneficiaries, the government failed in arranging the required money and was instead blaming the Opposition parties for the delay in distribution of pensions and deaths of beneficiaries.
Reiterating his promise to pay Rs 4,000 monthly pension to every household immediately after coming to power, Naidu made it clear that the revised aid will be applicable from the month of April itself and the dues for April, May and June will be paid immediately.
“I will be the eldest son of every family and distribute the pension directly at your doorstep,” he declared.
Alleging that Jagan had earlier emerged victorious in the polls by killing his own paternal uncle and passing the buck on the TDP, Naidu said the Chief Minister has tried to capitalise on the death of his own father for political gains. “Once again, he (Jagan) is trying to win these elections by politicising the deaths of several innocent pensioners,” he remarked.
Seeking to know why pensions were not paid on the first of this month, Naidu claimed that Jagan borrowed a huge sum of money to clear pending bills to the tune of Rs 13,000 crore of contractors due to fear of losing power.
Asserting that the TDP does not oppose the volunteer system, the former chief minister vowed to continue the system even after the NDA forms government in the State.
He quickly added, “The coming NDA government will not take back volunteers who have already submitted their resignations as the ruling YSRC is using them for its political advantage.”
Calling Jagan the most selfish person under the sky, Naidu said the TDP, which is a part of the NDA, will come to power in these elections.
Further, he advised officials not to get into trouble by violating the norms to temporarily satisfy the ruling party leaders.
Naidu shoots off another letter to CEC
Alleging that the failure of the State government in distribution of pensions resulted in the deaths of 33 people, Naidu requested the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to take action against the Chief Secretary for circumventing the process and working in favour of the ruling YSRC.
In a letter to the CEC on Friday, Naidu sought action against the officials concerned for not providing funds in time and proper amenities for the pensioners. He also sought the CEC to give directions to the authorities to deliver pension at the beneficiaries’ doorstep, henceforth, by utilising the services of village/ward secretariat staff.
Further, the former chief minister sought action against the YSRC for deliberately misleading the public with false information and causing death of 33 people.
Naidu alleged that the selfish and vicious campaign of the YSRC has resulted in 33 persons dying in the process of collecting their pension from the local secretariats.
“With over 1.34 lakh employees available at the secretariats, it is very much possible to distribute pensions at the doorsteps of the beneficiaries. Yet the government is not implementing the same so that it can attribute the decision of the poll panel to the TDP for gaining political mileage,” he wrote.
He wanted the CEC to recall the YSRC advertisements regarding the distribution of pension as they are deliberately intended to target the Opposition TDP with mala fide intentions. Naidu wanted the Election Commission to initiate urgent action in this regard.
