VIJAYAWADA: TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh has promised to develop Mangalagiri as a model Assembly constituency in the country if he is elected in the elections.
Taking part in the ‘Breakfast with Lokesh’ programme at Balaji Fortune Towers in Mangalagiri on Friday, Lokesh said that TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu as the former Chief Minister of the State had developed Amaravati with the sole aim of ‘One State-One Capital’, the then local MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy had filed several cases and blocked the development of the region.
Maintaining that decentralisation of development was given the highest priority during the previous TDP regime, he regretted that after the YSRC came to power it totally destroyed Amaravati.
Squarely blaming Alla for causing hindrance to the development of Amaravati's capital region, Lokesh expressed concern that the situation is so alarming now as the youth from the State are migrating to neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana in search of employment.
Lokesh vowed to revive the past glory to Amaravati once the people’s government of the tripartite alliance is in place.
Pointing out that he lost the election from Mangalagiri in 2019 with a margin of 5,350 votes, Lokesh said he has been staying in the constituency since then as he is determined to win the seat this time.
“Despite being in the Opposition, I have developed the constituency by implementing 29 welfare programmes,” he claimed.