Jagan Mohan Reddy calls for debate on EVMs, plans statewide tour to meet victims of ‘TDP-sponsored violence’

“Let us give the ruling dispensation some time. They have already begun making mistakes. Let us count their mistakes like those of Shishupala. Then let us rise and fight against Chandrababu Naidu’s government,” he said.

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‘Naidu didn’t insist on special category status to state’

Jagan Mohan Reddy said that Chandrababu has already committed the gravest of all mistakes by not insisting on special category status to Andhra Pradesh. The TDP has good number of MPs while the BJP had fallen short of majority in the Lok Sabha.

This is the time when Naidu should exert pressure on the BJP for bestowing special category status but he did not do so, Jagan Mohan Reddy said, adding that no one would ever forgive Naidu for remaining silent on this crucial issue. He said he was not sure if the YSRCP would get opposition party status in the Assembly.

“I doubt if they have the basic ethical and moral values to bestow opposition status on the YSRCP, especially at a time when  TDP workers are unleashing terror against YSRCP workers,” he said.

The YSRCP supremo said that the TDP cadres were wreaking havoc, resorting to violence against the people who did not vote for their party in the recent elections.

“They are turning the state into a ravana kastam (the pyre of Ravana which keeps burning always). They are resorting to indiscriminate destruction of the properties of the people. They are trying to humiliate those who supported the YSRCP. All these are like Shishupala’s mistakes,” he said.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the people would always remember the good that his government had done to them regardless of how scheming the TDP might become in future.

“Don’t forget that 40 percent of those who voted in the elections are on our side. “The results were like the dices rolled by Shakuni in Mahabharata,” he said. He asked his law-makers not to lose heart because the party had suffered reverses in the elections.

Also Read: YSRCP reminds BJP that it is still dependent on Jagan’s MPs in Rajya Sabha

‘Will bounce back when it is time’

“We have implemented 99 percent of the promises we made in our manifesto. It was for the first time in history that a party had implemented almost all the promises in its manifesto. We always treated manifestos like Bible, Gita, Quaran,” the YSRC supremo said.

“We reached out to each and every beneficiary and learnt from them whether they had received the benefits under various welfare schemes,” he said.

He told the MLCs to bear in mind that the YSRCP government had distributed ₹2.7 lakh crore to the beneficiaries without the involvement of middlemen.

“We have also released a calendar each year and implemented the schemes for their benefit without straying from it. We have ushered in reforms unheard of in education, medical, and agriculture sectors and also in ensuring social justice, women empowerment and good governance,” Jagan Mohan Reddy said.

He said just as the way five years that the YSRCP was in power flew away, the next five years also would.

“The only first half of the movie is over now. Remember the tough days we have been through and how we moved forward. We still have credibility among the people. The good work that we have done will remain alive in their minds. That is why it is not difficult for us to rise once again though it might take some time” he said.

“We will bounce back when it is time for the present dispensation to pay for the sins it has committed,” Jagan Mohan Reddy said, adding that under Chandrababu Naidu’s regime, the TDP would be committing sins sooner than later.

He said in the legislative council the YSRCP has strength. “In the Assembly, may be we do not have much presence. The ruling dispensation may not allow us to speak. But they cannot do anything to us, except probably registering a few cases against us,” Jagan Mohan Reddy said.

He also recalled how the YSRCP government had covered all sections of people under welfare schemes regardless of whether they were YSRCP supporters or not.

(Edited by Shauqueen Mizaj)

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