The padayatra undertaken by the District Congress Committee (DCC) president Naini Rajender Reddy in municipal divisions in the city has evoked good public response here.
He has been touring in his Warangal (West) Assembly segment to highlight the problems being faced by the residents.
The padayatra titled ‘Mana intiki Rajender Anna’ began at Peddammagadda in GWMC’s 30th division in Hanamkonda on Friday. The local women welcomed him with traditional tilakam and harati as he made door-to-door visit in the area interacting with the residents and learning about their problems.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Rajender Reddy said the ruling party members were making hollow claims about the city’s development. There were funds available under various schemes from State and Central governments, but due to internal bickering with the ruling party, the development was stalled. “My padayatra is meant to expose the failures of GWMC administration and give people a hope on behalf of Congress party,” he said. There were issues relating to sanitation, street lighting, drainage and internal roads which were not addressed despite repeated requests by the residents.
People have been queuing up with petitions seeking Mr Rajender Reddy’s intervention.
A resident, Mallaiah, complained that they were troubled by the foul smell emanating from clogged drains and poor sanitation conditions while another resident Venkateshwarlu said water supply was irregular and bore wells had become defunct . An elderly Rajamma alleged that she was forced to make rounds of the corporation office to get old age pension as her name was removed from the beneficiary list. The issue was brought to the notice of local corporator but in vain, she complained.
The Congress leader alleged that Mayor, MLAs and elected corporators had failed to keep up their promises and were indulging in corruption. “They want commissions in works and not bothered with the problems of people,” he accused.
The DCC president is accompanied by the city Congress president K. Srinivas Rao, TPCC general secretary N. Srinivas, TPCC secretaries E.V. Srinivas Rao and B. Srinivas Rao, its spokesperson K. Ravali, corporator V. Srinivas, local division president Ambedkar Raju and former corporator H. Rajender among others.