The Jagan group is scoffing at the claims by the Congress that the welfare schemes launched by YSR belong to the party alone as they were in the election manifesto.
The Jagan group on Sunday scoffed at the claims by the Congress that the welfare schemes launched by former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy belonged to the party alone since they were mentioned in the election manifesto.
Talking to INN, Adilabad district in-charge of the YSR Congress Party and former MLC H A Rahman expressed incredulity over the Congress leaders' claims. Rahman wondered that if this was true, then why were schemes such as Arogyasri, which have won acclaim not only from across the country but also from foreign countries, not part of the Congress manifestos in other states.
Rahman further said that it was shocking to note that while Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was alive, all the ministers who are currently in the cabinet had heaped praises at the latter for launching the schemes. These same ministers were now claiming that the schemes belonged to the Congress and were trying to sideline the selfless work carried out by the former chief minister.
"These Congress leaders, while trying to ridicule Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy, are even willing to discredit YSR. They will stop at nothing to project themselves as being subservient to the party High Command," Rahman said.
YSR Congress Party in-charge of Mahabubnagar district Gattu Ramchander echoed Rahman's words, and added that the Congress leaders in the state, with some exceptions, were scared and jealous of Jaganmohan Reddy who they saw as a threat to their own political future.
Pointing out to the erratic behaviour of Textiles and Handlooms Minister P Shankar Rao, Rahman said that he was like a "French poodle in the arms of an Italian Lady". Poodles cosy up to their masters in order to be pampered and taken care of, and this is precisely what is happening, he said.
"The poodle, safe in the arms of its master, will snipe at others or even hit its juniors," Ramchander added, in an obvious reference to the reports that the minister had punched his PA on the nose recently.
"These Congress leaders, who had expressed their unstinted support and loyalty to former chief minister YSR during his lifetime, are now feeling safe in the arms of the High Command and are trying to discredit YSR himself by claiming that the welfare schemes belong to the Congress," he said.
"Claiming to be the political heirs of YSR is easy, but what has the Congress done since he passed away except struggle to escape from public wrath and internal dissension?" added Ramchander.
He said that when Jaganmohan Reddy had tried to live up to the promise he had made to console the people who had died of shock or committed suicide in the aftermath of YSR's death, the Congress High Command stood in his way.
"Is this how the High Command leads? When someone is trying to fulfil his promise of a noble cause, the High Command sees it as dissension and sidelines that person. Before YSR died, he had worked hard to fulfil the promises he had made to the people, and this is evident from the schemes he had introduced. But somehow the Congress is not interested in keeping promises, nor is it interested in allowing its members to keep their promises. This was the reason behind Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy's decision to leave the party. All he wanted to do is to keep his word," lashed out Rahman.
The YSR Congress Party leaders expressed confidence that the people of Kadapa will see through the Congress and re-elect Jaganmohan Reddy with a thumping majority.
"The day is not far off when the people of the entire state will rise up against the Congress rule, and usher in a new era of welfare and development under Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy," Ramchander concluded. (INN)