I Feel Proud To Rename Krishna District After NTR   

Parnasala, Krishna District: My Padayatra began with the memory of the revolutionary poet of the working classes, peasants and underprivileged, Sri Sri, on his anniversary this morning. The great poet stirred the consciousness of an entire generation and left his indelible imprint on Telugu language and literature. I began my Padayatra this morning inspired by his ideals.

In Vizag, our party workers and leaders held a protest marking betrayal by the TDP-BJP combine, a Deception Day protest. Thousands of party workers and common citizens joined me on my Padayatra this morning sporting black badges and waving black flags as a mark of solidarity.

Chinnam Meerabai, an old woman, met me near Nidumolu.“Sir, my leg got badly infected and the treatment cost Rs.6 lakhs. Because the healthcare scheme of Arogyasri was not extended, and since I did not get any assistance from the Chief Minister‘s Relief Fund, I had to pledge whatever property I had. As a result, I am deeply in debt now. To make matters worse, four cents of land which belonged to me, were acquired under the road-widening scheme. Sir, please help me when you come to power.” She wept as she spoke and I was deeply moved by this interaction with this old lady. If the health of such hapless individuals is not taken care of by the state, where will they go? Who will they turn to?

I thought that the birthplace of the legendary NTR, Nimmakuru, would be a model village, especially since it had been adopted by Lokesh, the chief minister’s son and a minister in the state cabinet. To my utter disappointment, Nimmakuru was a picture of neglect. The villagers of NTR’s birthplace and his close relatives, Nandamuri Venkateswara Rao and Nandamuri Prabhu Kumar, came to me narrating stories of the corrupt activities of the ruling TDP. They took me to a lake by the road which had been dug up completely. They pointed to the lake bed which had been excavated to a depth of 50 feet, with the digging equipment still lying there. “Do we need more proof of the reigning corruption in Andhra Pradesh?”

They were furious at the thought that NTR’s reputation and all the good work done by him was being destroyed by Chandrababu Naidu, Lokesh and leaders of the current ruling party through their unbridled corruption. They did not even spare the great man’s birthplace, they lamented. “It was only during NTR and your father, the late Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s tenure that development work was done in our village,” they said. “The road we are standing upon was laid by your father, as also all the other roads—cement roads—in our village. He gave pattas to the deprived and built a colony for the poor here,” they said. “Your father ensured that everyone got white cards regardless of party affiliations and pensions were given without discriminating between parties.” They revealed that after Chandrababu Naidu came to power, his government started discriminating between villagers based on party loyalties! They pointed to an elderly man there, Kudurupalli Subramaniam, saying that he was a living example of such discrimination.

“If there was steady progress during NTR and Dr. YSR’s period, corruption rules the roost under Chandrababu Naidu and Lokesh,” they said. It was crystal clear that be it the birthplace of NTR or for that matter, Chandrababu‘s own birthplace, corruption was the only common denominator everywhere in the state of AP. When members of the Nandamuri family requested me to implement welfare schemes in the village and ensure its development, I announced that I would not only take care of all the requirements of the village when the YSRCP came to power, but that Krishna district would be named after the legendary NTR. They felt overjoyed that I, Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s son, had promised to rename Krishna district after NTR, while his son-in-law destroyed his reputation completely! They pointed out that Chandrababu Naidu had used his father-in-law for his own ends and discarded him later. Ironically, while I feel proud to have made this announcement of renaming Krishna district after NTR, some people seem to find fault with it and are revealing their own mindset by attributing political motives to it!

I have a question for the chief minister—I had asked you questions relating to special category status to Andhra Pradesh repeatedly. I had hoped that you would answer these questions in your Tirupati meeting.  However, you evaded all pointed questions and queries related to SCS to the state. Does this not reveal your insincerity on the issue of special category status? Is it not another example of the politics of deception that you practice?