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Anti-incumbency factor will not work in Andhra Pradesh: CM

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD DEC. 9. The Telugu Desam Party president, N. Chandrababu Naidu, said today that the anti-incumbency factor which led to the defeat of the Congress Governments in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh would not affect the electoral prospects of the TDP.

He said Congress leaders were `day-dreaming' that this factor would be the undoing of his Government. "But, people will always vote for a Government that produces results and puts up a good performance. I am confident that the TDP will win," he added.

Interacting with the TDP cadre through a live television programme from NTR Bhavan here, he said the Congress Government in Madhya Pradesh could not provide sufficient power in spite of ruling the State uninterruptedly for 10 years. Although the Congress regime confessed that the party could not get a feel of the people's pulse, the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee chief, D. Srinivas, was faulting the people of Madhya Pradesh for making a wrong judgment and thus insulting their intelligence.

Mr. Chandrababu Naidu criticised the former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Ajit Jogi, for his alleged attempts to `purchase' BJP MLAs and split the party. It was also very unfortunate that the Congress joined hands with naxalites during the Assembly elections. This exposed the Congress party's utter lack of faith in democratic values, he said. The Congress, he said, had tried to split the TDP in 1984 but a vigilant public restored N.T. Rama Rao to power. A Congress Prime Minister had to do the rounds of courts on charges of bribing Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MPs and woo them into his party fold, he added.

The TDP chief ridiculed the offer of the former CLP leader, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, to retire from political life if the Congress failed to wrest power from the TDP. This showed that Dr. Reddy's sole ambition was to attain a position of power and not to serve the people. A leader sincerely interested in serving the people could do so without political power, he said.

Mr. Naidu warned his cadre against canvassing for the party ticket by making frequent trips to Hyderabad or lobbying with leaders here. In selecting the candidates, the party would be guided by their record of service to the TDP and to people besides their personal character. During the two-hour-long interaction that included his speech for nearly 80 minutes, Mr. Naidu made use of graphics to illustrate his points, be it in regard to the Congress performance in north, or rebutting criticism by the Left parties that his Government had become a slave of the World Bank.

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