Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday told the party’s rank and file that it was time for political consolidation having accomplished most of the tasks in the last three and half years. It was only performance that would matter as the people’s attitude had changed over the years and anti-incumbency might not have the kind of impact it had if the governments fulfilled their mandate.
He told the MPs, MLAs and MLCs, Assembly constituencies’ in-charges and district party presidents to do what remained to be done in the coming months as the elections were appearing on the horizon and that he would not hesitate to stage a dharna or hunger strike the Gandhian way to mount pressure on non-performers. Addressing the TDP’s State-level workshop at the ‘grievances hall’ here, Mr. Naidu said the party’s goal should be to win all the 175 constituencies and falling short of that target would be treated as having serious lapses.
Such a situation could be avoided by being ‘politically intelligent’ and putting the people’s welfare above everything else. He observed that the TDP had lost elections previously due to some slip-ups and it could not afford to allow such a situation to crop up this time.
Mr. Naidu’s remark that he would stage protests came in the context of Anantapur, Chittoor and Srikakulam districts’ poor performance in the implementation of the ODF and other schemes.
The CM observed that the number of ration cards exceeding the population was a matter of concern and said the findings of the Praja Sadhikara Survey would henceforth be considered as the standard database for implementing welfare schemes on the basis of Aadhar cards as identity proofs subject to security safeguards.
