Development has come to a standstill under the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) regime with the ruling party leaders busy amassing assets illegally, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national general secretary N. Lokesh has alleged.
The State would witness all-round development if the TDP was given a chance in the 2024 Assembly elections, Mr. Lokesh said while addressing a public meeting on the 148th day of his Yuva Galam padayatra, at Kovur in Nellore district on July 6 (Thursday).
Price rise
He said people were put to severe hardship by the YSRCP government by resorting to heavy dose of taxes and remaining indifferent to their plight when the prices of all essential commodities spiralled due to “wrong economic policies.”
In contrast, the TDP, after coming to power in 2014, had contributed its mite for the all-round development of the State.
The State had now been pushed to a serious economic crisis by the present YSRCP government, he added.
‘‘The TDP will show what development is when it returns to power in 2024,” Mr. Lokesh asserted, and promised to bring back all welfare schemes scrapped by the YSRCP government, including the popular Anna canteens, and check the price rise.
Welfare of Minorities
The party’s alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not come in the way of implementing schemes when it assumed the mantle in 2014 to ameliorate the living condition of the Minorities, who were, however, left in the lurch by the YSRCP government by denying them the Ramzan Tohfa and funds for upkeep of masjids.
The YSRCP leaders amassed wealth through illegal means by colluding with the land, mining, liquor, ganja and cricket betting mafia, alleged the TDP leader, who also released a list of prime pieces of land encroached upon by Nellore MLA and former Irrigation Minister P. Anil Kumar Yadav.
Mr. Lokesh also “exposed the illegal assets” allegedly amassed by YSRCP MLA from Kovur N. Prasanna Kumar Reddy.
Mr. Lokesh said he too was a victim of political vendetta of the YSRCP government, facing as many as 20 cases, including one for attempt-to-murder and under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.
The YSRCP leaders would be taken to task when the TDP wrested power from it in 2024, he said, adding more than 26,000 false cases had been registered against members of the Backward Classes.
Promise to paddy farmers
Alleging that the paddy growers in Nellore district alone had suffered a loss of over ₹3,400 crore due to denial of minimum support price by millers, allegedly in collusion with local YSRCP leaders, Mr. Lokesh assured the farmers not only to ensure a remunerative price for their produce but also provide subsidised quality farm inputs and investment subsidy of ₹20,000 to each of them if the TDP returned to power.
The Kanigiri reservoir would be completed, as also branch canals to ensure water to all farms, he said.
Subsidised looms for weavers
Handloom weavers would be provided hand-holding with subsidised looms and inputs, including hank yarn and dyes, and 200 units of power free of cost.
Power subsidy would also be restored for shrimp farmers, he added. He also promised justice to the government employees, who were carried away by the unkept promise of scrapping the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy during his padayatra.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy had also promised total prohibition, only to forget after coming to power, the TDP leader said, and added that pay arrears for the employees, including the police personnel, would be cleared if TDP returned to power.
