Launching a scathing attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has allied with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Jana Sena Party (JSP) in the State to fight the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) which “fostered corruption, crime, land mafia, and religious conversion.”
“The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is fighting to reinstate the power of Lord Balaji in Andhra Pradesh,” he said while addressing a public meeting during his election campaign along with TDP national President N. Chandrababu Naidu at Dharmavaram in Sri Sathya Sai district on May 4 (Sunday).
Alleging that the Telugu language was in danger during the YSRCP tenure, Mr. Shah said, “The Telugu language will never lose its cultural identity and importance as long as the BJP exists,” he said.
Describing the Polavarm irrigation project as “the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh”, Mr. Shah said that the project, despite the approval of the Central government, got “deliberately derailed due to rampant corruption in the Jagan Mohan Reddy government.”
“If Mr. Naidu is elected as the Chief Minister and Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister, the Polavaram Project will be completed within two years,” he said.
Describing Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy as the “betrayer of Rayalaseema“, Mr. Shah said that apart from Polavaram, all irrigation and drinking water projects in the region would also be completed.
He said that the NDA was committed to continuing and developing Amaravati as the capital of Andhra Pradesh. He accused Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy of reneging on the promise of total prohibition, creating a liquor syndicate in the state, and undoing the efforts of the former Chief Minister Mr. Naidu.
Ridiculing the INDIA bloc for its inability and infighting in having a Prime Minister candidate, he questioned the ability of Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, M.K. Stalin, Uddhav Thackeray, and Rahul Gandhi to become the Prime Minister.
Exuding confidence that the NDA would win 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Shah listed out the achievements and welfare schemes of the Modi government. He mentioned that Mr. Rahul Gandhi and Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy did not attend the Pran Pratistha ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and asked the people whether they would vote for such people.
Mr. Naidu, while referring to the assurances of Mr. Shah, said that it was a welcome sign for the unprecedented development of Andhra Pradesh under the NDA regime, saying that the alliance is “bound to come to power both in Andhra Pradesh and at the Centre.”
CM hatching conspiracy: Naidu
He alleged that with a few days left for the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the State, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy was getting ready to “implement a conspiracy on the lines of Vivekananda Reddy’s murder, Kodi Kathi and Gulaka Rayi drama“.
He reiterated his allegations against the YSRCP government, drawing references to liquor, sand mafia, and A.P. Land Titling Act.
Hindupur TDP MP candidate B.K. Partha Sarathy and Dharmavaram BJP MLA candidate Satya Kumar Yadav were present.
