Jagan Says Attack on Any YSRCP Worker Is Attack on Him
Pulivendula, Andhra Pradesh, October 27: Former Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy declared on Tuesday that an assault on any YSRCP worker would be considered an assault on him personally. He also cautioned that police officers found responsible for injustice would be held answerable even after retirement.
Reddy told police that they were working under the Constitution and not for Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. He urged them to keep in mind the three lions on their uniform caps and the constitutional oath they had sworn.
He made these remarks while addressing party workers in Pulivendula, his home constituency in YSR Kadapa district, days before the local body polls.
Reddy strongly criticised the ruling alliance for organising elections on a tilted field. In his view, the government was using undemocratic means because it had failed to keep its election promises and was anxious about facing the people.
He insisted that elections must be fair, with all candidates receiving equal opportunity. Reddy alleged that current local body polls were being manipulated through misuse of government machinery and by preventing opposition candidates from filing nomination papers.
According to him, arrests, cases and harassment were not unfamiliar to the YSRCP. He said the party had emerged while in opposition and had faced every challenge with the backing of ordinary people.
Reddy observed that people in every home were debating the contrast between his rule and Naidu's administration, and that voters would pass their verdict in the coming elections. He said three years had gone by and only two remained, after which 'YS Jagan 2.0' would come.
He assured workers that their problems were his problems. Reddy recalled that after his father's death, the residents of Pulivendula had stood beside him as family, and that their support had enabled him to become Chief Minister.
Reddy said Pulivendula would be the first step in a statewide struggle to protect democracy. He announced that he would come back a day before voting and cast his own vote on polling day, appealing to people to stand firm and ensure voters have full freedom to deliver their decision.
He compared Naidu with Shakuni from the Mahabharata, the character who cheats opponents with magical dice to secure false wins. Reddy asked how the integrity of results and the legitimacy of democratic principles could survive when nominations themselves were being completed through unfair means.
Reddy stated that the state had previously seen booth rigging, but Naidu had raised it to the level of 'nomination rigging' by taking over nomination centres and keeping candidates from filing papers.
He said that everyone should be free to contest and the candidate who wins the people's votes should prevail, which he called the spirit of democracy. Blocking rivals from contesting and then claiming victory, he said, was disgraceful.
The YSRCP chief noted that the alliance was celebrating wins in 17 urban local bodies, with the TDP bagging 15 chairperson posts, Jana Sena one and the BJP one. The alliance also asserted that 21 per cent of the 2,108 wards had been won unopposed.