Telugu Desam Party (TDP) legislator and party’s deputy Floor leader in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Nimmala Rama Naidu has asserted that there is nothing wrong with the TDP-Jana Sena Party (JSP) alliance’s proposal to give “bonds” containing details of the monetary benefits that will be delivered to the people availing of various welfare schemes under the ‘Bhavishyathku Guarantee’ programme.
The bonds would have the signatures of both TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu and JSP chief Pawan Kalyan, and the amount would be deposited into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries in a transparent manner after the alliance comes to power, Mr. Rama Naidu said while addressing the media on Wednesday.
Mr. Rama Naidu said the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) unleashed a false propaganda that the TDP and JSP were collecting people’s personal data for the stated purpose, due to fear that the programme would wean away voters from it on a large-scale.
He insisted that the mechanism through which the benefits were planned to be passed was by no means violative of the Election Commission rules.
Mr. Rama Naidu maintained that the information being gathered was confined to details of the number of persons in a family, and no sensitive data was sought from those getting registered under the programme.
Bogus voters
Further, Mr. Rama Naidu said a large number of bogus voters were being added to the electoral rolls through private agencies and the ward and village volunteers at the behest of YSRCP, which was stealing the voters’ personal data.
The full-fledged election manifesto of the TDP-JSP alliance would give sleepless nights to the YSRCP, he said, adding that only 15% of the assurances contained in the YSRCP’s 2019 election manifesto were fulfilled.