KADAPA: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reiterated that only with Congress at the helm of affairs, Andhra Pradesh will get the Special Category Status.
Addressing an election rally at Kadapa on Saturday after paying tributes to former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy in Idupulapaya, Rahul called upon the people of Kadapa to elect Congress candidate YS Sharmila Reddy, whom he called as his sister, so the genuine voice of AP can be heard in Lok Sabha.
Recalling that YSR was a close friend of his father Rajiv Gandhi, the Congress leader said YSR’s Padayatra was an inspiration for his Bharat Jodo Yatra. He said he learned several lessons from YSR, who gave more importance to social justice. However, today, it is found lacking in the State, he observed.
“Today, Andhra Pradesh is run by the ‘B’ team of BJP. The BJP’s ‘B’ team means B for Babu, J for Jagan, and P for Pawan. Remote control of these three persons is with Narendra Modi,” he said, taking a dig at the three parties.
Rahul further said these leaders were under Modi’s control as the latter had ED, CBI, and other enforcement agencies at his disposal. He asserted that soon after coming to power, the INDIA government would keep all the promises made to Andhra Pradesh including the implementation of Special Category Status, completing the Polavaram Project, and construction of the Kadapa Steel Plant.
On the issue of the inclusion of the YSR name in the CBI chargesheet filed in the disproportionate assets cases against Jagan, Rahul maintained that YSR was an out-and-out Congress leader and his ideologies were that of Congress. “Why would Congress include his name in the chargesheet? It has not done any such thing,” he maintained.
Lashing out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress leader said Modi is bent on destroying the Constitution, and Congress is fighting against such oppressive tactics of NDA with all its might.
Rahul said as promised, women from poor families will be credited with Rs 1 lakh per annum, and increase wages under NREGA to Rs 400 per day.