Nellore: In a bid to leap over TD supremo Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu in offering sops, YSR Congress chief Mr Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy promised to hike old age pension to Rs 3,000 per month after coming to power.
Sounding the election bugle with a firm acknowledgement to the support of the masses, Mr Reddy dubbed Mr Naidu as a copycat and a flip-flop politician. He compared him to touring talkies that changes the posters frequently and appealed to the people to reject the ruling dispensation.
Addressing a massive Samara Sankharavam public meeting at Tirupati on Wednesday, Mr Reddy told the party cadre to get ready for the 2019 battle for ballot and said, “I am committed for the social, economic and political upliftment of all sections and promise to hike the old-age pensions to '3,000 per month. Chandrababu’s theatrics will flop in the public theatre as he has been scripting film after film with neither substance nor morals as he has gone back on all his poll promises.”
Mr Reddy further added, “We need not believe TD, Congress, BJP or Jana Sena but will go ahead on our own and win all the 25 MP seats to play a pivotal role in national politics and support that party which assures SCS and stands by our aspirations. Chandra-babu Naidu has been a copycat who has been trying to cover up his past mistakes of not fulfilling his 600-odd poll promises and in a knee-jerk reaction has come in a tearing hurry to announce scheme after scheme now."
Mr Reddy further alleged, “He is taking a leaf from our Navaratnas unmindful of the fact that he has forgotten his past promises in the last four-and-a-half years and has now been doling out promises despite knowing that he has lost credibility and people no longer believe him.”
Rewinding the history of the State and the fate of copycats, Mr Reddy told the gathering how a copycat CM was summarily rejected by people in the earlier days.
“The new budget, which will hardly have any bearing on the public has been used as a publicity tool and he tried hard to copy our Navaratnas but imitation has its limitations and original is original,” said Mr Reddy and appealed to the cadre to be alert and keep a watch and get ready for the battle of the ballot.
Be alert, Jagan asks party cadre
YSR Congress chief Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy told the booth level workers to be alert in checking the voters list and ensure that people come to the polling booth and vote as Mr Naidu and his men would be at work to delete the sympathisers of YSRC and create bogus voters to have a double effect.
Mr Reddy was addressing a huge gathering of party men and booth committee members at Tirupati on Wednesday. He said AP CM Mr Naidu was going to face a similar fate as that of the earlier chief minister Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy in the coming elections.
“When NTR (as Leader of the Opposition) had announced the '2-a-kg rice scheme, the then chief minister Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy started giving rice at Rs 1.90-a-kg just six months before the elections. People remember what happened to the copycat chief minister who was trounced decisively and NTR secured a thumping majority. The same is going to happen in the coming days as copycat Chandrababu Naidu is singing tunes of welfare, something which does not suit his style of functioning,” observed Mr Reddy.
He alleged that Chandrababu Naidu had never bothered about welfare schemes or welfare of people but was always busy in amassing wealth, favouring nepotism and contractors and resorting to horse-trading.
