Ahead of the elections, the TDP and the YSRCP are trying to outsmart each other in announcing sops such as pensions and other welfare schemes without a thought on the source of funding, APCC president N. Raghuveera Reddy has said.
‘Cheap tactics’
Addressing the media before leaving for Kurnool as part of the ‘Pratyeka Hoda Bharosa Praja Yatra’ here on Wednesday, Mr. Raghuveera Reddy said both these parties, after keeping quiet for 58 months and sensing a backlash from the people, were resorting to the cheap tactics of showering sops that they would not be able to fulfil. “Without the Centre’s support and release of 90% grants for various welfare schemes, none of these pensions or other schemes can be implemented. For that very reason, we have been telling people to vote for the Congress both at the Centre and in the State so that there is no mismatch and all promises made under the State Reorganisation Act, including the Special Category Status (SCS) are fulfilled,” Mr. Raghuveera Reddy said.
Congress alone was committed to granting the SCS and the Congress government at the Centre alone would make it a reality, he reiterated.
‘BJP rejected demand’
The BJP had rejected the demand for SCS outright and made it clear that it was a closed chapter. But AICC president Rahul Gandhi said the first file he would sign after becoming the Prime Minister would be the one on SCS, Mr. Raghuveera Reddy said. “Under these circumstances, all the regional parties who are now offering to support the party that grants SCS should consider unanimously supporting the Congress candidates in all the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State to help achieve it,” Mr. Raghuveera Reddy asserted. AICC secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Christofer also attended the meet. The Congress leaders addressed a gathering at Garladinne in Singanamala Assembly constituency before entering Kurnool district.
Special package
Staff Reporter in Kurnool writes: Mr. Raghuveera Reddy said the party would also grant a special package for the development of the backward districts. As the BJP cheated the people, the TDP had to come out of the NDA, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Congress leader Byreddy Rajasekhara Reddy said the Congress government would give rice for ₹ 1 a kg and grant SC status to members of the Valmiki community.
The yatra would be heading for Kadapa and Chittoor in the next two days. Mr. Rahul Gandhi would participate in the public meeting to be organised in Tirupati on February 22.