Govt. forcing the poor to part with their land: Chandrababu Naidu

Telugu Desam Party president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has alleged that the YSRCP government is intimidating the poor and taking away their assigned lands on pretext of distributing house sites to all.

Addressing a public meeting at Govindapuram in the Kuppam Assembly constituency on the second day of ‘Praja chaitanya yatra’ on Tuesday, Mr. Naidu said if Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was really interested in providing house sites to the poor and downtrodden, the lands should be procured from the rich and affluent sections but not by forcibly acquiring the assigned lands.

The TDP chief said that the development in the State had gone back to 20 years in the wake of ‘mindless’ decisions of Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy. Mr Naidu said industrial development was going to be a mirage in the State with many investors retreating from the State, fearing the ‘atrocious’ regime. He alleged that Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy was vindictive towards political opponents by ruthlessly trying to weaken them economically, physically and mentally. As the TDP was committed to continuing its struggle for justice, there would be no question of leaving the battlefield, he asserted.

Mr. Naidu observed that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government deprived many poor of their social pensions and ration cards. To prevent the State from getting further damaged, the people should play their part to ensure victory for the TDP in the coming local bodies elections.

Water projects

Charging the YSRCP government with deliberately delaying the water projects in the State, the TDP chief deplored that Polavaram project, ‘the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh people’ was getting dry and its further progress was prevented in the name of reverse tendering. “The TDP government had almost completed the Handri-Neeva and Galeru-Nagari projects for Rayalaseema, but the present government was dilly-dallying the execution of the remaining works. Just ₹20 crore more spending would suffice to bring the HNSS waters to Kuppam region,” Mr. Naidu said, asking the people of Kuppam to fight for the cause.

Earlier, the TDP chief’s arrival in the rural belt was marked by a rousing reception. MLC G. Srinivasulu and senior party leaders from Kuppam, Ramakuppam, Gudupalle, and Shantipuram mandals accompanied Mr. Naidu. Later, Mr. Naidu left for Bengaluru.