Aim for 2029 poll win, forestall YSRCP ‘misinformation campaign', Naidu tells TDP leaders

The Hindu

a day ago

TDP national president and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has called upon the party leaders and cadres to prepare for the 2029 elections from now itself, as otherwise, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) would seize the opportunity to garner votes by waging a misinformation campaign, the kind of which it did effectively during 2014-19.
The good work done by the TDP during those years came to a naught as the people believed in the machinations of the YSRCP, which went on to set new benchmarks in corruption and push the State backward by 20 to 30 years through its regressive policies and distinct brand of vindictive politics, he said.
'We should not commit that mistake again. Each one of us should reach out to every household and explain what the coalition government did in the last one year in order to win their confidence,' he exhorted.
Addressing a meeting of the TDP MPs, including Union Ministers K. Rammohan Naidu and Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, State Ministers, MLAs and MLCs as part of the 'Suparipalana - Tholi Adugu' (The First Step in Good Governance) campaign on Sunday, Mr. Naidu said the NDA government in the State has done many good things in the last one year but the task of undoing the damage that had been done by the YSRCP during 2019-24 was far from over, as basically the public debt amounted to a staggering ₹10 lakh crore and the institutions that were undermined, had to be put back on the track one by one. The YSRCP was looking to mislead the people on what had been done by the coalition in the last one year, Mr. Naidu said.
Revival of Central aid
One conspicuous feature of the YSRCP regime was almost all the 95 Centrally-Sponsored Schemes (CSSs) becoming defunct during its term due to non-payment of the State's contribution, but the NDA government managed to revive 86 CSSs in spite of severe constraints.
Attempts to stall Central funding for the construction of the capital city Amaravati was another audacious thing done by the YSRCP with political motives. After thwarting those attempts, the coalition government could garner support for Amaravati in the form of ₹15,000 crore assistance from the World Bank and ADB.
Mr. Naidu said the TDP had done social re-engineering on the basis of caste and religion across the different regions and won the trust of voters, who gave the alliance (TDP - Jana Sena Party - BJP) a phenomenal strike rate of nearly 94% in the 2024 elections.
The YSRCP spent huge sums to win the elections but had to be content with just 11 seats as the people were vexed with its style of governance, whereas the TDP-led alliance offered a new hope of progress and peace. In the last one year, the NDA government maintained a fine balance between development and welfare, he observed.
The Chief Minister further said the YSRCP excelled in misleading people and it was evident from the manner in which the conspirators behind the Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy murder made the whole State believe that the death was due to a heart attack but they could not hide the facts forever. The 'kodi - kathi' incident and the alleged attempt to murder Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy by throwing a stone at him reflected his deceptive mindset.
Performance appraisal
Mr. Naidu told the party's elected representatives to be accessible to the people and that he was getting real-time updates of their performances, saying that only those working with true spirit of service to the people would be able to win in the 2029 elections.
He made it clear that he would not tolerate indiscipline and failure to fulfil the people's aspirations, while pointing out that he was pressing for the demonetisation of currency notes of ₹500 denomination.
It would help in curbing the menace of money power in elections to a large extent, he asserted, claiming that the TDP had always used the Central government support for development of the State, be it the crucial role played by it in the formation of the National Front or the United Front governments.