The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : ‘People can ill afford to elect Congress’

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Monday, Mar 23, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

‘People can ill afford to elect Congress’

Staff Reporter

Ruling party should pay the price for its failures and complicity in scandals, says NTR Jr.

State did not pay heed to plea for MSP for paddy
Forcible land acquisition shows neglect of ryots

Photo: S. Rambabu

NTR Junior campaigning in Amalapuram on Sunday. —

Amalapuram: Junior NTR said it was time for the electorate to make the Congress party pay the price for its failures and complicity in major scandals, which brought disrepute to the State.

The Congress party leaders who called the shots in the Government, minted money by cornering contracts while the people’s living conditions deteriorated, he observed during his roadshows here on Sunday.

Mr. NTR said the Congress Government neither paid heed to farmers’ plea for minimum support price for paddy nor plugged the loopholes in the public distribution system, which resulted in the creation of artificial scarcity. The market intervention measures could not bring down the price of rice as large-scale hoarding was resorted to by traders.

“If the government’s claim that paddy production was bumper is true, why did not the price come down?” Mr. NTR sought to know.

The Congress party is once again making promises to attract the voters but they should take a conscious decision before making a choice as they can ill afford to bring back the party, which announced a slew of populist schemes just because of its fear of losing out to its rival TDP in the coming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Forcible acquisition of vast tracts of fertile land in the name of Coastal Industrial Corridor and Special Economic Zones were ample proof of the disdain with which the government treated farmers and other communities heavily dependent on land for their livelihood. It is therefore imperative that the Congress party should be kept away from power, Mr. NTR added.

Water needs

Mr. NTR also reiterated the ineptitude of the government in meeting the water requirement of Godavari delta where, he alleged, crops in nearly five lakh acres withered away due to water scarcity.

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