Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Lagadapati’s stance on price rise decried

VIJAYAWADA: Vallabhaneni Vamsi Mohan, Telugu Desam candidate for the Vijayawada Lok Sabha constituency, on Tuesday demanded that his Congress rival Lagadapati Rajagopal withdraw his comment that the price rise would not have much impact on the people because of their increased incomes.

“How can an MP speak in such a manner? Rajagopal’s comment reminds us of Emperor Nero playing fiddle when Rome was in flames,” said Mr. Vamsi Mohan.

He asserted that the people of Vijayawada Lok Sabha constituency had already decided to reject Mr. Rajagopal and favour the TDP in view of the fact that the MP had made plenty of false promises regarding the poor people’s welfare and promotion of industries and employment.

After winding up his campaign on the last day, Mr. Vamsi Mohan told a press conference that there was tremendous response from the people to the TDP’s campaign in all the seven Assembly segments and expressed confidence that he would win the election with a majority of not less than one lakh votes, while Grand Alliance candidates would secure victory in all the Assembly segments.

CPI (M) candidate for Vijayawada Central Assembly constituency Ch. Babu Rao and CPI candidate for Vijayawada West Assembly constituency K. Subba Raju were also present.

Stating that unchecked price rise was one of the reasons for the poor showing of the Congress in the first phase of elections, Mr. Vamsi Mohan expressed confidence that this would be no different in the second phase. Rice, pulses, LPG, kerosene and other items were finding their way into black market, which was why the prices of essential commodities were skyrocketing.

Mr. Vamsi Mohan asserted that once elected, he would concentrate on not only the developmental aspects but also the welfare of poor people by attending to their common grievances in the wake of price rise and lack of basic amenities. He talked of addressing the twin issues of providing support to farmers in rural areas and bringing in industrial development in the city to create job opportunities and infrastructure development.

Mr. Babu Rao charged the Congress MP with making false claims of spending Rs. 1,500 crores for the development of the city under the JNNURM scheme, while the actual amount was just Rs. 175 crores. He said that the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation had spent at the rate of Rs. 60 crores a year, which was not sufficient to meet the developmental needs of the city.

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