Telugu Desam Party is hitting back against YSRCP comments on Chandrababu Naidu staying at home in Hyderabad. TDP is asking why ruling party leaders are violating restrictions of COVID lockdown. TDP MLA Nimmala Ramanaidu has strongly objected to TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy taking all his family members in a crowd for darshan at Tirumala Temple in total violation of the Central Government’s COVID-19 lockdown norms.

He deplored that while TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and the whole world were duly respecting the virus preventive measures, the ruling YSRCP MPs and MLAs were unabashedly putting people’s lives at risk with their irresponsible activities.

Ramanaidu asked how YV Subba Reddy could leave Hyderabad and land in Tirupati in the morning, later to go to Prakasam district in afternoon and then to go to Tadepalligudem by night. Obviously, the AP Government was applying lockdown restrictions only for the opposition leaders and common public but not the ruling YSRCP leaders. Another MP Vijayasai Reddy was always known for his continuous violations of crowd gatherings and social distancing norms.

Ramanaidu pointed out that unlike YSRCP MPs and Ministers, Chandrababu Naidu was abiding by lockdown norms and staying at his residence but continuously working from there through virtual conferences to create positive and useful awareness on the war against the Coronavirus epidemic. Instead of fighting the killer virus, the AP Government puts its focus on using even lockdown norms and guidelines to harass the Opposition leaders with false police cases. Such narrow-minded and misadministration by YSRCP had caused a spurt in virus cases in AP now while all other states were reporting lesser cases these past few days.

The TDP MLA told Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy not to tell lies but give a simple clarification whether or not his brother Hariharanadha Reddy was a business partner of Viswanatha Venkatasubrahmanyam whose firm Sanders Medicals Pvt Ltd was given order for supply of rapid testing kits. By engaging a mediator unlike Chattisgarh, the AP Government purchased the one lakh kits at a very high price resulting in Rs. 30 Cr scam. BJP AP President Kanna Lakshminarayana had given full proof towards this but Buggana was only making fake challenges to divert the attention of the public.

Ramanaidu accused CM Jaganmohan Reddy of being ruthless and heartless in not spending a single rupee out of AP State funds for preventing starvation deaths of poor workers while Rs. 6,400 Cr was distributed to his favoured contractors in a time of virus threat. The Centre had released Rs. 4,000 Cr COVID funds and Rs. 500 Cr were received by the CM Relief Fund through public donations but no effort was made to given enough cash assistance to poor workers. For the third time, the Centre was going to send essential commodities but AP was not able to distribute even dal properly to the needy poor families.

From day one, State Election Commissioner Justice Kanagaraj made whirlwind visit of AP. While he is making visits to AP from Tamil Nadu, the neighbouring state is constructing walls on borders to block AP people. TDP says right from start, SEC Kanagaraj sent out wrong message on election preparedness despite virus threat. That led to YSRCP leaders holding rallies and spreading infections. Now, Former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has written an open letter to the people of Andhra Pradesh, appealing to them to protect themselves by personally taking all possible preventive measures against the dangerous COVID threat. The +ve cases doubled in just a month’s time in AP while the ruling YSR Congress Party leadership was not taking either initiative or responsibility to strengthen the fight against the invisible enemy.

It was unimaginable that a COVID-like danger would threaten people. The AP situation deteriorated ever since State Election Commission gave a call for election preparedness despite nationwide lockdown in the midst of virus infections. Following this, the YSRCP leaders began holding rallies, crowd-based gatherings and door-delivery of benefits. Such open violations of lockdown coupled with the failure of official machinery led to the present non-stop rise in Coronavirus cases in the State.

Mr. Chandrababu Naidu expressed surprise that even in a time of extreme calamity, the YSRCP was still looking for political advantage instead of giving total focus to public health and safety. The ruling party was only concerned with painting its flag colours on government buildings rather than speeding up virus tests and treatments. The YSRCP leaders were solely focusing on local body elections instead of saving the people from the virus epidemic and the lockdown impact on the livelihoods. The +ve cases at AP Raj Bhavan and in ruling party MP’s family reflected the failure of the Government. It was alarming that six members including four doctors in the MP’s family tested positive while several persons contracted virus in Raj Bhavan. Many letters were sent to the Government but it had not given standard protection kits to doctors, paramedical staff, sanitation staff, police, journalists and other frontline workers.

Mr. Naidu said that negligence of ruling party leaders in AP had sent a wrong message which led to neighbouring states constructing walls on AP borders. Telangana was preventing Mahbubnagar people from going to virus-hit Kurnool while Tamil Nadu blocked inter-state highway to block people going there from Andhra Pradesh. All this was happening because of YSRCP misplaced attention to shift Capital City in a time of serious steps required for virus containment.

Stating that migrant workers were in a dire situation, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu deplored that construction workers, weavers, toddytappers, fishermen, auto drivers, artisans and others depending on small professions were facing severe hardships. Anna Canteens and Beema insurance would have given lot of confidence in these workers in these troubled times.

Mr. Naidu said that the real test to leadership would be a calamitous crisis like the present COVID threat but the ruling party leaders were not able to take up this challenge. Whereas, the TDP was continuing its social responsibility just as it took part in relief efforts in 2009 Krishna district floods and Uttarakhand flash floods though it was in opposition at that time also.

The Telugu Desam Party leaders are stepping up their political attack on ruling YSRCP on its threat to quarantine Chandrababu Naidu if he comes to AP from Hyderabad. The TDP leaders are asking whether the government took steps for sending new State Election Commissioner Justice V. Kanagaraj for quarantine. Justice Kanagaraj arrived from Chennai to Amaravati and met Governor and all SEC staff. How can the AP government allow him to move freely without putting him under observation as per 14 day quarantine norms? Unfortunately, Jagan Sarkar gave preference to 84-year-old Justice Kanagaraj over 65-year-old Ramesh Kumar.

Former Minister Alapati Rajendra Prasad has said the ruling party Ministers and MLAs are talking about sending Chandrababu Naidu to quarantine for the sake of taking political mileage. The YSRCP government is indulging in cheap political games at a time serious preventive measures are required to save people from virus threat. It was Ramesh Kumar who save AP from Coronavirus epidemic by postponing elections. If he had not postponed elections, 4.5 crore voters would have stood in queue lines in last week of March causing great health risk. The GOs reducing SEC term and removing Ramesh Kumar were unethical and unlawful. Constitutional experts and even former CEC Qureshi declared AP government’s action as unconstitutional.

The Telugu Desam Party Politburo held a meeting over video-conferencing in accordance with the nationwide lockdown guidelines and expressed concern over the rising number of COVID-19 +ve cases and its increasing threat to all sections of people in the two Telugu States and in the country.

Considering the deteriorating situation, the TDP Politburo appealed to the Central government to extend nationwide lockdown till April-end. It complimented civil society organisations, industrialists, NGOs and others in Telugu states for donating liberally to the cause of fighting Coronovirus.

Briefing the Politburo resolutions at a press conference, former minister Kaluva Srinivasulu said that their party resolved to demand a special package from the State government to quench the hunger of poor people, daily wage and construction workers, agricultural labourers, SCs, STs, BCs, Minorities and artisans. Though TDP National President Chandrababu Naidu demanded Rs. 5,000 cash assistance first but AP government gave just Rs. 1,000 which is not enough under these continuing lockdown conditions.

The TDP Politburo also took serious view of the ignorance and arrogance with which CM Jaganmohan Reddy was continuing to neglect transportation and marketing facilities for farmers’ crops. The farmers of horticulture, paddy, aquaculture and sericulture are now in danger of incurring severe losses because of lockdown problems.