Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy has said that TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu was blowing the issue of him being detained at Renigunta airport out of the proportion to divert the attention of the people from the rout of the candidates supported by his party in the panchayat election.
“Mr. Naidu landed at Renigunta airport knowing that his participation in the proposed dharna was against the COVID-19 guidelines and the model code of conduct in force for the municipal elections. He is trying to be in the reckoning by some way or the other, without understanding that his political graph has slid down,” the Minister told the media on Monday.
“Mr. Naidu is trying hard to project that he is still in action with the support of a section of media. But, people are no longer bothered to see or know about him,” the Minister said.
The Minister referred the incident during the TDP regime, when Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, then the Leader of Opposition, was detained at the Visakhapatnam airport.
“The policemen appealed to Mr. Naidu to leave without creating trouble on Monday. On the contrary, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy was handled in a rough manner in Visakhapatnam then. Mr. Naidu remembers democratic values occasionally,” he said.
‘Welfare-oriented policies matter’
Accusing the TDP president of deliberately postponing the local body elections during his tenure fearing the victory by YSRCP-supported candidates, Mr. Ramachandra Reddy said ‘only welfare-oriented policies can bring bring a leader closer to the people, not cheap politics.’
