The BJP has termed the ensuing by-election to Tirupati Lok Sabha seat as a referendum on development in the State, and dared the TDP and the YSRCP, which formed successive governments post-bifurcation, to come for a debate.
This time, the party is keen on taking up a visual campaign to draw people’s attention to ‘ground zero’ in a bid to send its detractors into the defence mode.
“Whatever has accrued to the State in the name of development is a result of the Centre’s commitment. But the two regional parties are bent on claiming credit to it,” said BJP Rajya Sabha member G.V.L. Narasimha Rao during a media interaction here on Wednesday.
Projects sanctioned
Citing the IIT, the IISER, the Smart City, the industrial zones and scores of rail/road projects sanctioned to the region, Mr. Rao sought to know what had the State government done to match the Centre’s efforts.
Maintaining that several thousands of crores of rupees pumped in by the Centre had translated into concrete development, he said the YSRCP government could no longer try to keep the people in the dark.
The TDP as well as the YSRCP governments had failed to take forward the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) sanctioned to Tirupati five years ago, Mr. Rao said, while accusing the regional parties of perpetuating corruption, family rule and caste politics.
On the ‘Sagarmala’ project meant to link ports with major nodes, the BJP leader said that 32 out of the 91 road projects had come to Andhra Pradesh, seven of them in Tirupati LS constituency alone.
Similarly, the State got 21 out of the 83 rail projects sanctioned across the country, four of them under Tirupati constituency.
Electric buses
“We have always accorded top priority to Tirupati in view of its importance,” he said, adding that Tirupati would get 50 new electric buses and 68 charging stations under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme.
Local leaders and apolitical persons from various constituencies joined the BJP in his presence.