Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

Naidu kicks off poll campaign

By S. Nagesh Kumar and A. Saye Sekhar

GUNTUR, NOV. 19. Setting the stage for a major political show, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo, N. Chandrababu Naidu, today kicked off the party's election campaign from Guntur at a well-attended public meeting amid tumultuous fanfare. This is the first public meeting Mr. Naidu is addressing after the dissolution of the State Legislative Assembly.

Basking in the afterglow of the rousing reception he received in the colourful rally en route the `NTR Praanganam,' the public meeting venue, earlier in the day, Mr. Naidu made a fervent appeal to the people to "call the bluff " of naxalites of the banned People's War (PW), the Congress and the "separatist" Telanagana Rashtra Samithi by voting for the TDP in the coming elections. Promising the completion of Pulichintala and Bhima projects for the benefit of the farming community, Mr. Naidu said the TDP was also committed to realising Polavaram, the dream project of the late N.T.Rama Rao.

The Chief Minister strongly criticised the Congress for "providing a tacit endorsement" to the activities of the outlawed naxalites. Thanking people and the Almighty for showering their blessings on him to have a "re-birth" in the Alipiri blast triggered by the PW, Mr. Naidu said that he was not worried about his life.

Mr. Naidu explained to the people why he decided to go in for an early election though he had nine more months of time to "cling on to power". "I have sacrificed my post almost a year in advance only to seek people's verdict, for I want the poor and the down-trodden sections to benefit from various developmental schemes and welfare programmes launched by the TDP Government,'' he said. "I am not personally against naxalites nor is any one of them my enemy. But, they have become an impediment to the progress and development of the State. They are unleashing a reign of terror. They should know that their policies and principles are obsolete. They should eschew violence and join the mainstream and seek the people's mandate by contesting elections,'' Mr. Naidu pointed out.

Mr. Naidu also pooh-poohed the Congress' promise of free power to farmers and those who were using only one bulb. Recalling how the Congress Government in Punjab retracted on the promise after coming to power, Mr. Naidu said the TDP would never make false promises. He recalled how the TDP trounced the Congress at the hustings after launching its poll campaign from Guntur in 1994 under the leadership of N.T.Rama Rao.

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