Chandrababu Naidu’s biggest battle yet: For 2024 Andhra polls, TDP chief hits the ground running

On December 9, he held a meeting in Bapatla. He spoke at another sizable gathering at Bobbili in the Vizianagaram district of north coastal Andhra Pradesh on Friday. Alongside this, he made a quick visit to Khammam in neighbouring Telangana on December 21 and is reportedly looking at reviving the party in the state.

Addressing the roadshow at Bobbili as part of his “Idemi Kharma Mana Rashtraniki (Why is our state facing this fate?)” programme, Naidu said the “massive gathering” there “spoke of the growing anti-incumbency” in the state.

Saying that “he was not visiting Bobbili for the first time” and that “he was not a film personality to attract crowds”, the TDP supremo said he was elated by the response.

Hitting out at the government, he said, “Not even a single section of people is happy with the policies adopted by the YSRCP government.”

Naidu claimed that the voters elected the YSRCP after “getting carried away by the appeal made by Jagan Mohan Reddy to give him a chance”. He added, “The only option was to defeat him (Reddy) in the coming polls.”

Naidu said the state was “neck-deep in debts amounting to Rs 9.5 lakh crore” and asked the police officials and security personnel deployed at the meeting whether they received their salary arrears and provident fund dues.

Naidu’s approach to each of the public meetings has been different. From price rise to bad roads, he has been hitting out at the Reddy government on various issues.

He spoke of the increase in prices of essential commodities, power charges, and house taxes at the Bapatla meeting. In Eluru, he brought up the death of the CM’s uncle YS Vivekananda Reddy.

“Wherever Telugu people live, be it in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, other states in the country or in the United States or in some other country I am in their hearts,” Naidu said in Bobbili.

He added that the state’s youth want him to come back to power so that they can get “employment opportunities”.

Naidu said, “Investors are running away from the state as a result of which the youth is not getting employment. Assets worth over Rs 3 lakh crore were completely destroyed in Amaravati which the present government has decided not to develop as the capital city.”

The TDP leader has been mounting an attack on welfare schemes, which have been one of YSRCP’s central planks.

“On one hand Jagan is paying you Rs 10 and on the other he is grabbing Rs 100 from you because everything has become expensive. The chief minister is under the impression that the people are not aware of this but everyone came to know about the fact very soon,’’ he said.

“Why is the condition of roads in almost all parts of the state in such a poor condition now?” Naidu asked. “I am also a victim of this bad condition of the roads.”