Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday alleged that Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had indulged in stealing of personal data of the people of the Telugu states for his political gains.

The attack came a day after Chandrababu Naidu, along with Delhi CM chief Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in Visakhapatnam, launched a blistering counter attack on the Prime Minister accusing him of being a “chowkidar of criminals and corrupt”.

“I have been told that his party had stolen the confidential personal data of the people of the state through his Seva Mitra mobile application for using the same to make political gains. The fact is that Naidu is neither a “mitra” (friend) of anybody nor does he do any “seva” (service) to the people,” Modi said, addressing an election rally in Andhra Pradesh’s Rajahmundry.

He said there was no wonder such a person who had stolen the personal data of the people would have looted the people’s money as well.

PM Modi compared Naidu with Bhallala Deva, the villain character in the magnum opus film Bahubali. “Like Bhallala Deva, Naidu’s only aim is to grab power by hook or crook. He will stoop down to any level to realise his aim,” he said.

While the BJP was striving to protect the cultural heritage of Andhra Pradesh, Naidu is destroying the state’s heritage for his own “Heritage” (a group of companies being run by Naidu’s family), Modi said.

The Prime Minister further accused the TDP president of escalating the cost of Polavaram major irrigation project on Godavari river only for the sake of taking kickbacks and said Naidu had no sincerity in completing the project.

“In the very first cabinet meeting of the NDA government, we declared Polavaram as a national project, which had been hanging in balance for the last 40 years. And in the last five years, the Centre had released Rs 7,500 crore. But Naidu had no sincerity in completing the project. For him, Polavaram project was like an ATM. He went on escalating the project cost without any rhyme or reason, only for the sake of kickbacks. Who does he want to benefit with such cost escalation?” he asked.

The PM thanked the taxpayers of the country for contribution to the development of the nation by sincerely paying the tax. “It was only because of the taxpayers that I could take up several welfare and development programmes, which transformed the entire economy of the country,” he said.

Modi pointed out that his government had not introduced any new taxes in the last five years and instead it reduced and also simplified the tax structure. “Starting today, we are giving great relief to the middle class people by giving Income Tax rebate to the people whose income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh,” he said.

He appealed to the people not to entertain the grand alliance of opposition parties which had no concern for the people, for the nation’s security and the development of the country. “When our government destroyed the terrorist camps in the enemy territory, these leaders caught singing the Pakistan tune,” he alleged.

First Published: Apr 01, 2019 17:29 IST