AP Congress chief Raghuvira Reddy, of late, has become very adept in interpreting political situations. Some of his recent ideas are really a hit with people of the state and helped the party gain some space in the media at a time when the party disappeared without trace in Assembly. His idea of campaigning in favor of Bihar ‘grand alliance’ in Patna bound trains, sending back matti (soil) to Prime Minister in reciprocation to latter’s offering of Delhi Matti and Yamuna water to Amaravati also attracted considerable public attention. Now, the PCC chief is deciphering the Telugu Desam Party’s much hyped Jana Chaitanya Yatra, which was launched yesterday by party president Chandrababu Naidu, in an offbeat way. The program, he said, was not Jana Chaitanya Yatra but ‘TDP Chaitanya Yatra’.
Raghuvira interpretation is like this. In Jana Chaitanya Yatra, TDP MPs, MLAs, MLCs and party leaders knock at every door in villages to tell about welfare programs launched by the state government, who was behind these schemes and how people were benefited from these schemes every month. The TDP leaders had calculated all the benefits accruing to each family in the form of subsidies including pensions. The figure arrived at approximately was Rs 5000 a month. By highlighting this aspect, the TDP leaders were promoting Nara Lokesh Babu as the real brain behind all these programs and the way they were being implemented. The entire program was meant to project Lokesh as the leader of the TDP.
Raghuvira was critical of the timing of Jana Chaitanya Yatra. “When the state is reeling under drought on one side and ravaged by floods on the other, where is need for such promotional program? People are crying for help in all Rayalaseema districts and Nellore. But the CM is busy in political programs,” he said.
According to Raghuvira, the purpose of Naidu’s program was to hoodwink the people and postpone the relief measures.
” Jana Chaitanya Yatra isn’t for the welfare of the people but for duping the public,” he said and pointed out that the government had not disbursed the input subsidy for two successive seasons in state. Now, several districts had been hit by severe cyclone, he said. This was the time, the chief minister should have sent all TDP leaders to each and every household affected by flood and drought to distribute relief and reassure them that the government was behind them.
” But, Naidu is on the cover up mission of his failures. He is involving entire government and the party in Yatra, by sending officials and party leaders to every household to tell about his son Lokesh Naidu and the programs taken up in the past. It is sheer callousness. We will take up a campaign against Naidu & Son’s plot to cheat the people.
