The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) cadre is geared up for the third edition of the ‘Siddam’ programme under Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, scheduled at Raptadu mandal headquarters of Anantapur district on February 18 (Sunday).
Deemed the ‘Million Cadre Meet’, the public meeting is expected to be attended by party activists and leaders from around seven parliamentary constituencies of the Rayalaseema region.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, Minister for Energy Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy, who inspected the venue beside the Raptadu highway, said that the Siddam meet would herald the party’s election campaign.
“The Chief Minister will focus on the Navaratnalu schemes and how the people from all sections are benefitting from them,” he said, expressing confidence that the YSRCP would cross the present 151-seat mark in the upcoming Assembly elections. A similar Siddam programme would be held in the Palnadu region soon, he added.
Mr. Ramachandra Reddy said that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu failed in terms of development during his 14-year-long tenure as the CM. “That is why the TDP leaders are resorting to mudslinging against Jagan and YSRCP leaders,” he claimed.
Moreover, he opined that the Congress was a ‘washout’ in the State and that a majority of Congress cadre had joined YSRCP. “Only a small leftover group is sailing with the Congress now,” he said.
Raghuveera retorts
On the other hand, speaking to the media here on Saturday, Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and former minister N. Raghuveera Reddy said that Jagan had no ‘moral right’ to visit Anantapur.
“Jagan falsely promised that the Handri Neeva project would be completed within six months of the YSRCP coming to power, but it has not materialised in the last five years. Similarly, the Ananta project meant for mitigating drought in the combined Anantapur district was shelved, though the Centre had allocated ₹7,860 crore for it,” Raghuveera said. He further deplored that the Jagan-led government failed to materialise the proposed steel plant at Rayadurgam. “Ramachandra Reddy had only exploited the Congress, and later stabbed it,” the Congress leader alleged.
