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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has no moral right or authority to talk about weeding out corruption, or making the elections clean, as his government has “taken steps to subvert all democratic institutions in the country including the Election Commission,” according to AP Chief Minister and TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu.
He was talking to the media here on Wednesday after his return from Chennai where he campaigned for the Congress-DMK alliance on Tuesday. He asked, “Even as we were campaigning in the afternoon, news has come out in the night that there were IT raids on Kanimozhi’s house. I gather a series of raids are taking place even on Wednesday. It is, to say the least, appalling how the Opposition leaders are being targeted. Are we to understand that BJP leaders are paragons of virtue? How can such conduct be justified?”
Also read:Opposition to move SC demanding more VVPAT checks
He again spoke at length about the way the election was conducted in Andhra Pradesh and added, “I am going round the country to expose the dangerous game the BJP is playing and save democracy in the country. I want to sensitise the public.”
Referring to the huge haul of cash at many places in the country, he said ironically, “We have to thank Prime Minister Modi for it. Demonetisation, his brainwave, has been implemented so wonderfully. The government has replaced ₹1,000 note with ₹2,000 note. The country is awash with cash. I suggested that digital currency should be incentivised and made more cost-effective, and that dependence on physical cash should be reduced gradually. The reverse has happened.”
On new Chief Secretary
Referring to the new Chief Secretary, LV Subrahmanyam, posted by the Election Commission, the CM defended his comments on the new CS and said, “Can anyone deny that he is an accused in a serious case? I have no personal animosity against the new CS. But I have the right to state the facts. If some former bureaucrats living in the cosy comfort of Hyderabad go and complain to the State Governor about my comment, I am afraid I can do nothing about it. I leave it to their discretion.”
Also read:Chandrababu Naidu protests poll panel’s ‘unilateral decisions’
The CM again made a demand to count at least 50 per cent of VVPATS. “The Election Commission, or for that matter BJP and its allies, are unable to give any rational explanation why they are opposing such a move. If the BJP has no mischief on its mind, why is it opposing such a sensible demand?” he asked and asserted that he would continue to fight for it.
Referring to the claims of the YSR Congress that it would come to power in the State with a huge majority, he said that party was entitled to live in its own world, but the results on May 23 would prove it wrong. “People have already made up their minds. I am sure we will emerge victorious,” he added.
Water for kharif season
He said 69 per cent of the mega Polavaram project on the Godavari had been completed and water would be released for the coming kharif season. He said all steps were being taken to address the drinking water problems in some areas in the State and there would not be any inconvenience to the public. For the latest on elections: Elections 2019
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