Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is scheduled to launch the third phase of the YSR Cheyutha scheme and lay foundation stones for development works at an estimated cost of ₹66 crore in Kuppam Assembly constituency on September 22. This is the maiden visit of Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy to the home turf of TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu after assuming the Chief Minister’s office.
During the last one week, Minister for Forests and Energy Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy, along with Deputy Chief Minister K. Narayaswamy, YSRCP party leaders and key officials, has visited Kuppam frequently and held a series of review meetings on the arrangements being made for the Chief Minister’s tour.
After the sporadic violence and demolition of the ‘Anna Canteen’ in Kuppam during the three-day visit of Mr. Naidu between August 24 and 26, the TDP leaders have adopted a ‘silent approach’ in fighting the ruling party’s excesses with the support of the police’. The arrest of several key TDP leaders including former MLC Gownivari Srinivasulu in Kuppam constituency is said to have prompted Mr. Naidu to warn the cadres to slow down the pace of protests.
“The YSRCP leadership in Chittoor district is following a pre-planned strategy. They are provoking us. False cases are being foisted upon us. The YSRCP is trying to hamstring our plans for 2024 elections by making us liable to bind-overs and house arrests,” said a senior TDP leader in Chittoor.
The TDP cadres alleged that the voters of Kuppam constituency had lost faith in the YSRCP government as ‘many promises made by the ruling party remained unfulfilled’.
Meanwhile, the YSRCP cadres said that they were confident of winning the constituency in 2024. Mr. Ramachandra Reddy has already said that that party would seek votes only after the region got the Handri-Neeva branch canal water.
A section of the cadres said even as it is certain that MLC K.R.J. Bharath would fight Mr. Naidu in 2024 elections, many ticket aspirants are silent fearing the district leadership. Moreover, the assurance of Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy that he would make Mr. Bharath a Cabinet Minister if he is elected to the Assembly has made the YSRCP cadres feel that they have to fight a personal battle for the MLA candidate, not for the party.
