TDP ready for early polls, says Chandrababu Naidu

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is ready to face an early election as and when it is held in Andhra Pradesh, party chief N Chandrababu Naidu said here on Saturday.

For some time now, there has been talk that Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy may do a KCR and go for mid-term polls sometime in 2023, though the election to the State Assembly is due only in April 2024.

(In neighbouring Telangana, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao went for a mid-term election to the State Assembly in 2018, months before the due date in 2019, and retained power).

“I heard the talk, too. If there is an early election, we are ready to face it,” Chandrababu said in a freewheeling chat with reporters on the occasion of New Year’s Day at the TDP headquarters here.

“People expected Jagan to do something better than what we did. So they gave him the one chance he had sought. But the myths are now shattering,” the TDP president said.

Chandrababu said people did not take to the streets only because of Covid-19. Thus, Jagan got away with all his wrongdoings. “People are silently bearing the atrocious acts of the Jagan regime but they will account for everything at the polls,” the former Chief Minister said.

The TDP chief refused to respond to a question on possible electoral alliances saying it was hypothetical.

Coming down heavily on Jagan, Chandrababu said no other Chief Minister left the State economy in tatters. “What is happening in Andhra Pradesh now is economic destruction. I myself am unable to assess the State’s economic situation. Andhra’s brand image has been completely ruined,” the former Chief Minister said.

From daily wage earners to industrialists, everybody was migrating from Andhra Pradesh to other States. “Earlier, people used to migrate from Odisha to Andhra Pradesh in search of work. Now, there is reverse migration,” Chandrababu said.

The TDP chief alleged that the Chief Minister was threatening everyone by (mis)using the Crime Investigation Department and the Anti-Corruption Bureau. “Some of them are staying silent to safeguard their prestige while some others are leaving the state,” he said.

Talking about the internal affairs of the TDP, he said he would hold meetings with the rank and file of all 175 Assembly constituencies. “Ineffective leaders and those who are not working will be kept aside. The party cannot do any sacrifices. So, replacements will happen,” he said.

Chandrababu Naidu said the TDP would step up agitation in the coming days on various issues faced by the people and expose the Jagan regime.

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