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As the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh tightens its grip on the state – its latest power move was its takeover of the Mayor’s post in the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation by forcing a no-confidence motion on April 19 – the Opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) is trying to fight back by raising issues to keep the TDP on its toes.
On Monday, the YSRCP held back-to-back meetings whose main agenda was to rework the party strategy to strengthen the organisation and protect its grassroots base. “All former MLAs, MLCs and leaders have been directed to keep track to oppose the TDP’s moves vociferously,” said a party leader.
The party also held state-level executive meetings of the YSRCP Intellectuals Forum and its Scheduled Caste (SC) wing on Monday. At both meetings, party leaders vowed to fight to restore YSR’s “welfare governance” in the state.
The YSRCP fightback
Since returning to power last June, the TDP has consolidated its position in several urban local bodies, including winning the Deputy Mayor elections in Eluru and Hindupur. But the biggest setback to the YSRCP was losing the Mayor’s post in the Greater Visakhapatnam corporation. After the TDP-led NDA’s corporators moved a no-confidence motion on March 22 against YSRCP Mayor G Hari Venkata Kumari, the YSRCP eventually opted to boycott the trust vote on April 19, which it lost, calling it an “undemocratic” move by the TDP.
The YSRCP claimed the no-confidence motion was linked to the state government allocating 21.96 acres of land to Tata Consultancy Services to set up a campus. “IT Minister Nara Lokesh wanted to give the land on a platter,” YSRCP state coordinator Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy has alleged.
In recent days, the YSRCP has raked up the issues of cow deaths at shelters run by the Tirumala board, which oversees the Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala, and the alleged desecration of the Srikurmam temple in Srikakulam in an attempt to appeal to Hindu sentiments.
On Monday, former YSRCP MLA Malladi Vishnu sought an inquiry into the recent deaths of star tortoises at the Srikurmam temple in Srikakulam, terming the incident a “grave sacrilege” as the tortoises were .revered as embodiments of Lord Vishnu.
The YSRCP has also questioned the arrest of former state intelligence chief P S R Anjaneyulu, in connection with a case involving actor Kadambari Jethwani, with Jagan saying the government was foisting false cases to “create an atmosphere of fear and subdue Opposition voices”. Anjaneyulu, considered close to Jagan, has been without a post since the TDP came to power last June.
Former minister Ambati Rambabu pointed to earlier arrest of IPS officers Kanthi Rana Tata and Vishal Gunni, who got anticipatory bail.
The arrest of two Dalit youths in Hindupur following a post against Jagan has given another line of attack to the YSRCP, which has accused the TDP government of being anti-SC.
It has similarly accused the TDP of being anti-Muslim for voting for the Waqf (Amendment) Act. The YSRCP is among the petitioners in the Supreme Court against the legislation.
Former state minister Perni Nani has slammed the TDP’s double talk on the issue, by claiming that it had sought assurances from the Modi government before voting on the Act.
Meanwhile, B S Ghouse Lajam, former chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Haj Committee, has accused the TDP of nominating its own party workers to the committee by labelling them as “religious scholars”.
