Tirupati MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy has criticised the TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu for promising to continue the volunteer system and hike the remuneration of village and ward volunteers to ₹10,000, describing it as “yet another election stunt”.
In an exclusive chat with The Hindu during his door-to-door election campaign at Akkarampalli in Tirupati on April 10 (Wednesday), Mr. Karunakar Reddy, who is also the Chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), said the promise of Mr. Naidu was a “damage control effort to assuage the ruffled feelings of the volunteers who were not only huge in number but also had won the hearts the people, particularly women, elderly and differently abled pensioners.”
“Realising that support is pouring in for the volunteers who have been barred from distributing cash benefits of welfare schemes until the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the elections is in force and outrage is growing against him, Mr. Naidu beat a hasty retreat. He is now making tall declarations but people are in no mood to believe him,” said Mr. Karunakar Reddy.
