Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy Tuesday mentioned that “some of Chandrababu Naidu’s admirers, star campaigners have joined the party that divided the state, in order to uplift the former CM’s position”.
The remarks are being seen as Jagan’s first public response to his sister Y.S. Sharmila’s enterprise into Andhra Pradesh as state chief of the Congress, which had bifurcated the state a decade in the past, carving out Telangana.
Naidu’s Telugu Desam Occasion (TDP) is the principle opposition in Andhra, whereas the Congress, since 2014, has been decimated electorally. The latter has introduced in Sharmila in a bid to reclaim the YSR legacy and votebank from Jagan.
Assuming workplace Sunday, Sharmila began concentrating on her elder brother and the ruling YSRCP chief Jagan over numerous points, starting from alleged assaults on Christians in Manipur to Andhra’s monetary standing.
Sharmila claimed that Jagan, being a Christian, had not reacted to the Manipur state of affairs, and that cases of atrocities on Dalits in Andhra had shot up underneath his regime. Whereas alleging that sand, liquor and mine mafia have been thriving within the state, she mentioned that Andhra lacked growth and had been pushed right into a “debt of Rs 10 lakh crore”.
Sharmila additionally accused Jagan of “mortgaging the state’s interests like special category status with the Centre in his self-interest” and focused him over “the lack of a proper capital and even roads in Andhra Pradesh”.
On Tuesday, Sharmila stepped up the assaults whereas touring Srikakulam, the north coastal Andhra finish district bordering Odisha.
“My father YSR (YS Rajasekhara Reddy) opposed the BJP all his life, but today sadly Jagan ‘anna’s’ government is functioning like the BJP’s servant, a puppet in the hands of the Centre,” Sharmila mentioned after paying tributes on the YSR pylon at Ichchapuram, the final Andhra city in direction of Odisha, the place the late Congress CM YSR had concluded his epoch-making padayatra that helped him ascend to energy within the state in 2004.
Sharmila’s stress on the phrase “anna” got here after Y.V. Subba Reddy, a senior YSRCP chief and uncle to the siblings, reportedly objected to her referring to the CM as Jagan Reddy.
“I chose the same Ichchapuram (to begin state tour as Andhra Congress chief) to continue YSR’s fight on behalf of the poor. My drive for the state’s good begins here,” Sharmila mentioned, including that it was as a Congress CM that YSR introduced in welfare programmes like Arogyasri, free farm energy and better training price reimbursement to the state.
Whereas Sharmila was in Srikakulam, Jagan addressed a public assembly at Uravakonda in Anantapur district, the opposite finish of Andhra Pradesh near Bengaluru.
“Though Chandrababu Naidu only deceived the poor, he has the backing of many campaigners operating from other parties much like his benamis in Amaravati capital area lands. His ‘adopted son’, a permanent resident of a neighbouring state, is one star campaigner, while his vadina garu (sister-in-law) who is in another party is another star campaigner. You all know who that is,” the CM mentioned in an apparent reference to Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and BJP’s Andhra unit chief Daggubati Purandeswari.
The TDP and Jana Sena Occasion have tied up for the Andhra meeting polls scheduled for this 12 months.
“In addition, now, a Chandrababu admirers’ group has joined the party that bifurcated the state, to lend a helping hand as star campaigners. But no worries, I have a record number of star campaigners in this nation’s political history — that is you sisters from every household in the state that benefited from our welfare schemes,” Jagan mentioned on the occasion to launch the fourth tranche of Rs 6,394 crore underneath the YSR Aasara scheme.
The quantity will likely be credited straight into the financial institution accounts of 78,94,169 ladies members belonging to shut to eight lakh self-help teams (SHGs) throughout the state.
As much as Rs 19,176 crore has already been credited in three prior installments, and the most recent monetary help clears the whole excellent dues of SHGs amounting to a considerable Rs 25,571 crore, officers mentioned in a communication to the media.
“This is in stark contrast to the unpaid dues left by the previous TDP government, showcasing the YSRCP regime’s commitment to its word, dedication in addressing the financial obligations of poorer households and supporting women across the state,” a YSRCP supply informed ThePrint.
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Sharmila’s state-wide tour
With the Andhra Pradesh meeting and Lok Sabha elections simply months away, Sharmila launched into a district tour, starting with Srikakulam, Parvathipuram and Vizianagaram Tuesday.
Sharmila hopped on an RTC bus at Palasa to succeed in Ichchapuram, and interacted with passengers taking suggestions concerning the state authorities. She was accompanied by Gidugu Rudraraju and N. Raghuveera Reddy, the previous state Congress chiefs, and different senior leaders from the social gathering.
Congress sources mentioned the nine-day tour will cowl all 26 state districts primarily for evaluate conferences to evaluate the social gathering’s energy with a view to strategise and regain the maintain it misplaced within the state since 2014. Sharmila’s schedule consists of interactions with the general public and the press.
The Congress was in energy in Andhra Pradesh from 2004 to 2014 however acquired wiped off the legislature thereafter. It polled underneath 1.2 p.c votes within the 2019 elections.
“It is an uphill task but we are happy with the focus, media and public attention we have started getting now with Sharmila’s entry. She is giving the state Congress’ people-oriented welfare narrative visibility. Coupled with the inductions from the YSRCP, many of them former Congressmen, we hope to regain our vote-bank in the state,” Janga Goutham, Congress working president, informed ThePrint.
Nevertheless, YSRCP leaders like Subba Reddy are derisive of Sharmila becoming a member of the Congress, which he accused of together with YSR’s identify in Jagan’s disproportionate belongings case cost sheet and sending their chief to jail for 16 months in 2012-2013.
It was Sharmila who had primarily led the YSRCP marketing campaign within the absence of her brother from Might 2012 to September 2013. She took a serious lead within the social gathering’s 2019 ballot marketing campaign too, contributing in her brother’s mega success along with her crowd-pulling oratory expertise and rallies. The 2, nonetheless, parted methods in 2021.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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