Chief Whip Gadikota Srikanth Reddy has likened the TDP president’s press meet on the decentralisation issue as a “comedy show.”

Addressing the media at Kadapa on Tuesday, Mr. Srikanth Reddy said the onus was more on the opposition party to prove its point in the people’s court. “They should resign, and not demand the elected government to step down,” he added.

He recalled that the YSRCP government had promised real decentralisation in its election manifesto, and maintained that the move hence had the people’s support.

“The online meetings by Mr. Naidu after a crushing defeat shows his frustration. His press meets have replaced comedy shows on television,” he said.

Mr. Srikanth Reddy pointed out that the government offered a fair deal to the Amaravati farmers. It also offered to develop the North Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, he said, and appealed to the people of all the regions to look beyond political considerations to understand the real situation.

HC order hailed

Meanwhile, the TDP lambasted the government’s decision to repeal the CRDA Act and set up three capitals in the name of decentralised administration.

Hailing the status quo ordered by the High Court, former MLA M. Sugunamma demanded that the government take the issue to the people’s court.

“People will not accept the capital shift. Tirupati is 789 km from Visakhapatnam,” she said, and wondered how Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy could implement his “hidden agenda” after having accepted Amaravati when he was the Opposition leader in 2014.

Ms. Sugunamma insisted that the people had always supported the TDP regime’s dream of building a world-class city, and would never accept a capital “strewn across the State.”