Telugu Desam Party (TDP) legislator Ganta Srinivasa Rao said on September 23 (Saturday) that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s recent discussions in the Cabinet to shift base to Visakhapatnam from Dasara was a move to divert people’s attention from the “illegal arrest” of party national president N. Chandrababu Naidu.
Addressing the media at the party office here, Mr. Srinivasa Rao said people were closely watching how Mr. Naidu had been arrested, and were questioning the “atrocities” being committed by the government. “People have understood that it is a clear case of political vendetta,” he added.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao said that after Mr. Naidu’s arrest, various surveys showed that the support base for the TDP supremo had swelled. “So, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy is resorting to diversion politics by reviving the capital shift again,” he said.
“The YSRCP government is of the view that shifting the capital is good news for the people of the region. But the fact is it is bad news. We had seen how YSRCP MP’s family was kidnapped and tortured. We have also seen how land and other mafias are ruling the roost in a peaceful city like Vizag. Even Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke about it,” the TDP leader said.
He further said that hundreds of people and employees of various IT firms were expressing their support to Mr. Naidu from across the world.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao also criticised the functioning of the Legislative Assembly. He also found fault with Speaker Thammineni Seetharam for not even reading the adjournment motion moved by the TDP to discuss the “illegal arrest of Mr. Naidu.”
“Even if you decide to reject it, it is a practise to read the motion submitted by the Opposition. Unfortunately, our Speaker rejected it even without giving it a read. This clearly proves that the House is being run in an undemocratic way,” he observed.
Former MLA and TDP Visakhapatnam parliamentary constituency president Palla Srinivas Rao, who was present, hoped that justice would prevail sooner or later.
