No voices in Andhra Pradesh to question Modi: Revanth Reddy in Vizag

Visakhapatnam: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy here on Saturday said that there are no voices in Andhra Pradesh to question Prime Minister Narendra Modi even as he allegedly wants to dominate the state.

Reddy said this in the context of the Union Government's plans to privatise the Vizag Steel Plant, at a public meeting here which was organised by the state Congress to protect the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), known as the Vizag Steel Plant.

"As a Telangana Congress leader, I have been observing the political affairs of Andhra Pradesh. There are no voices in this place to question. Only when there are questioning voices will the rulers listen to us," Reddy said, addressing the meeting.

He said that Modi allegedly wants to dominate the state as there is nobody from Andhra Pradesh to question him or talk about the people's rights here.

The Telangana CM alleged that even after 10 years, the Polavaram Project is not yet completed and one cannot tell where Andhra Pradesh's capital city is.

Reddy said that the people of Andhra Pradesh are facing this predicament because their self-respect has been pawned in Delhi.

Though the Telugu people are divided geographically into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Reddy said that when it comes to fighting for rights and saving assets, all were brothers.

"When capitalists from Delhi launch an attack to steal our assets, we are Telugu people and we are brothers and we will stand in support of one another," he said.

The senior Congress leader appreciated the attendees of the meeting and said that the steel plant was built on the foundation of the sacrifices of Andhra Pradesh people in the past and that today, they have turned up to save the industry.

The Telangana chief minister claimed that great leaders such as Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, P V Narasimha Rao, N T Rama Rao, Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, Jaipal Reddy, Venkaiah Naidu and others had campaigned on various issues to confront the central leaders and leave their imprint on national politics.

Expanding BJP as Babu (N Chandrababu Naidu), Jagan (Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy) and Pawan (Pawan Kalyan), he said that these three are Modi's strength in Andhra Pradesh.

Though people may think that they have voted for any of these three leaders, the Telangana CM observed that they are not able to recognise that their vote is ultimately going to BJP.

Further, Reddy called on the people of Andhra Pradesh to vote for Congress so that the party could win five MPs and 25 MLAs in the forthcoming polls.

He advised people not to think about the scope Congress party has in Andhra Pradesh. He recalled that in one Telangana by-election, Congress had received only 3,200 votes to drive home the message that all is not lost for the grand old party.

With an indomitable fighting spirit, he reminded that the Congress party rose from five MLAs to 65 now, which helped them capture power in Telangana.

Further, he claimed that former chief minister late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's last wish was to see Rahul Gandhi as the prime minister and as his daughter Y S Sharmila is working towards that goal, people must recognise her as his true heir.

He called on the people of Andhra Pradesh to stand by Sharmila and make her the chief minister.

Inputs from PTI