The Telugu Desam Party on Saturday launched a blistering attack on the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre and the Congress government in the state for their 'failures on all fronts' in the two years of their rule.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the three-day Mahanadu (annual convention) of the party, Naidu said that the Congress worthies were doing nothing except "doing japam (reciting the names) of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi".
Accusing both the UPA and Congress governments of neglecting the farmers and the poor, he said that 50 per cent of the farmers in the country were going through difficult times. This was the reason for the spurt in suicides by farmers in several states, including Andhra Pradesh.
"The Congress government is gifting away thousands of acres of lands to private parties in the name of industrial development outside Hyderabad, but they don't have house sites for allotment to the poor," he alleged.
"Whether we are in the government or in the opposition, we are always with the farmers and striving to secure justice to them. We are not in the government now. We are in the opposition but we will bring pressure on the government to come to the rescue of farmers," he said.
He claimed that the poor were in very bad shape as the governments at the Centre and in the state had done nothing for their welfare and for creating jobs for them. He urged the party leaders to highlight the problems of the farmers and the poorer sections and fight for their rights in all fora, from the local bodies to the assembly and Parliament.
He said that the Congress government has done nothing in the rural areas. No new work or programmes were taken up in the two years. Whatever development took place, it was only in the nine-year TDP rule. Cement roads, school buildings, water supply schemes and power sub-stations and other rural infrastructure were constructed under the TDP regime.
He said that the Congress had made many promises in its manifesto for 2004 Assembly/Lok Sabha elections.
After becoming chief minister, Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy also made umpteen promises during his Rajiv Palle Bata, Rajiv Nagara Bata and Praja Patham tours in the rural and urban areas of the state.
Accusing the Congress of making promises on the eve of elections but later forgetting them, he challenged the chief minister to spell out how many promises were fulfilled and new programmes taken up.
At the time of municipal polls, foundation stones were laid but work was not started. Ration cards were distributed but no ration was given.
Naidu took strong exception to the renaming of projects named after TDP founder N T Rama Rao by the Congress government in the state.
He pointed out that the TDP government had acquired 5,000 acres of land and he had met the then prime minister (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) 32 times to secure all the clearances for the proposed Hyderabad International Airport project, which was named after NTR. However, the Congress renamed the airport project after Rajiv Gandhi.
"As chief minister, I named projects after my Congress predecessors Dr M Channa Reddy, Jalagam Vengala Rao and Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy when they passed away. In October 2003, I had laid the foundation stone for Puligadda project and named it as NTR Varadasagar, but today Chief Minister Rajasekhar Reddy has renamed it after a Congress leader late Mandali Venkata Krishna Rao," he pointed out.
He said that changing names was a bad precedent in a democracy.
NTR had worked for the progress of the state and welfare of the poor and it was wrong to rename the projects named after him.
"TDP will not spare the Congress. TDP has the strength and capacity to teach them a lesson. When TDP comes to power after three years, we will undo the mischief done by the Congress," he declared.
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