Vijayawada: Save democracy and save Bharat is the aim of all political parties for the welfare of the public, said N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of AP during the United India Rally held in Kolkatta on Saturday.
Mr Naidu joined the anti-BJP rally organised by the Trinamul Congress and other parties. He said that leaders of all parties have joined in the rally against the suppression of the BJP government but YSR Congress president and opposition leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao have not attended which shows a hidden pact between the two parties. He claimed that there is no Federal Front and that it was started only to help the BJP government.
Addressing the mammoth gathering in the Brigade Grounds, Mr Naidu said that while the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre is trying to divide India, the non-BJP parties in the country are working towards a “united India”.
He alleged that the NDA is dividing the country on caste and religious lines, and stated that the country would see a new Prime Minister in 2019. He appreciated the initiative taken by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and said that a similar rally would be organised in Amaravati, the new capital of Andhra Pradesh, to bring together all non-BJP political parties in the country to save India, save democracy and unite India. All the national and regional leaders of political parties in the country would be invited for the rally.
“All the non-BJP parties are ready to send the Narendra Modi government packing as he has failed on all fronts. We want a performing Prime Minister and not a publicity PM. The NDA did not implement any of its promises like bringing back black money or giving two crore jobs. On the other hand, it came up with demonetisation, leaving no money in ATMs and banks, and the GST, which is also a big fraud,” Mr Naidu said.
Mr Naidu said that the country’s economy has taken a beating under the NDA and people have suffered under its rule. Farmers’ suicides have increased with the minimum support price not extended to them and the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas have soared. He also alleged that the BJP is trying to destabilise the Karnataka government led by H.D. Kumaraswamy by indulging in “horse-trading” of MLAs. He alleged that the BJP is harassing the states and the people and has resorted to blackmail, misusing institutions such as the Enforc-ement Directo-rate, the Central Bureau of Investigation and Inc-ome Tax department.
Mr Naidu described the use of electronic voting machines (EVM) as a big fraud and pointed out that even developed countries used paper ballots. “We will fight for withdrawal of EVMs and re-introducing ballot papers,” he stated.
Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Karnataka Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdulla and Omar Abdullah, Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel of the NCP and M.K. Stalin of the DMK were among those who participated in the rally.
