There is a palpable anti-YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) mood in Andhra Pradesh, which has prompted Chief Minister and YSRCP president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to effect a sweeping change in the party’s district-level in-charges and local leaders as part of a damage control exercise in the run-up to the forthcoming Assembly elections, said Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu.
“The Chief Minister is said to be considering the elimination of 92 sitting MLAs from the electoral race. Nevertheless, people have decided to defeat the YSRCP as they are realising the dangers of re-electing the party. Voting for the YSRCP is akin to signing one’s own death warrant,” Mr. Naidu remarked.
Addressing a meeting organised to welcome leaders of various parties from Amalapuram, Gajapathinagaram, Pedakurapadu and Tanuku constituencies into the TDP on Sunday, Mr. Naidu said Mr. Jagan was aware that his party had lost the confidence of the people and was therefore trying all the tricks up his sleeve in order to revive its sagging fortunes.
“No section of society is happy with the functioning of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government. People are conscious of the need to vote for the TDP-Jana Sena Party alliance. Farmers are in deep distress due to the government’s failure in solving their problems,” Mr. Naidu told the gathering.
‘Opulent buildings at taxpayer’s cost’
“Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy has shattered the dream of having a grand capital in Amaravati, and is obsessed with shifting to Visakhapatnam, where he is getting opulent buildings readied for him at the cost of the public exchequer,” Mr. Naidu said.
The TDP chief added that he had seen ten Chief Ministers in the course of his long political career, but none of them was as bad as Mr. Jagan, who treated the State like his personal fiefdom.
“The Chief Minister’s chair is not new to me. What I want is to rid the State of the YSRCP, in the interests of the people. I hope they will join me in my fight against Mr. Jagan’s draconian rule,” he said, exuding confidence in the ability of the TDP-JSP combine to win the elections.