Naidu kicks off party campaign for Kadapa-Pulivendula by-polls

Hyderabad, Feb 14 (PTI) TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidutoday kicked off his party''s campaign for the ensuingby-polls in Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula assemblyconstituencies by launching a strident attack on late ChiefMinister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and his son Jaganmohan Reddy onthe issue of corruption.

Chandrababu also held YSR responsible for the politics ofmurder in the segments.

"There is no democracy in Kadapa and Pulivendula. Peoplehere live in fear as YSR and Jagan turned these places intotheir fiefdom and ran riot. Many TDP workers were killed inKadapa and Pulivendula in the last six years," Chandrababupointed out, addressing a road show at Simhadripuram inPulivendula constituency.

In contrast, the Kuppam constituency he represented was afree place where anyone could campaign in elections withoutany hitch. "I personally appealed to YSR to put an end topolitics of murder but to no avail," the Leader of Oppositionsaid.

As Chief Minister between 195 and 2004 he too failed toan extent to curb factionism in the region, Chandrababuadmitted.

Stating that rebel leader Jagan was planning to launchhis own political party only with an eye on the ChiefMinister''s chair, the TDP chief said the former would returnto Congress if the party offered him the post.

He also took a dig at PRP chief Chiranjeevi for decidingto merge his outfit with the Congress. "He (Chiranjeevi)failed to achieve anything in politics in the last two and ahalf years and hence merged it with the Congress under thepretext of social justice," Chandrababu said. .

Spitting fire at the Kiran Kumar Reddy government, the former Chief Minister said administration in the state hasmiserably failed.

"This government should hang its head in shame and stepdown for having failed on all fronts. Farmers, weavers and allsegments have been totally left in the lurch," he lashed out.

The TDP chief began his tour from Simhadripuram where hevisited families of handloom weavers. He later addressedpeople at Pulivendula, the hometown of YSR.

It was Chandrababu''s visit to Pulivendula after a gap ofsix years. His last visit was for the campaign for municipalpolls in 2005.