Congress campaigning in Nagarjunasagar on Saturday revolved around how important it was for the State and its future to ensure the election of Mr. Jana Reddy and the death of Sunil Naik, who passed away after attempting suicide in protest against delayed issue of job notifications.
Senior leaders, including party candidate K. Jana Reddy; TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, former ministers Shabbir Ali and Damodar Reddy and former Youth Congress president Anil Kumar Yadav were among those who addressed meetings at a few places.
Mr. Uttam Reddy said Mr. Jana Reddy’s win was a historic need for the State to keep the TRS leadership in check apart from acknowledging the contribution of Mr. Jana Reddy to the constituency and the State. He was addressing a public meeting in Thummadam village of Nidamanoor mandal on Saturday. The leaders also recalled the crucial role played by Jana Reddy in the formation of Telangana. They said Jana Reddy had been offered the post of Chief Minister in undivided Andhra Pradesh but he had not only refused the offer but also pressured the Congress-led UPA government to grant statehood for Telangana.
He was instrumental in the formation of the Joint Action Committee and kept it non-political so as to involve all sections of society in the statehood agitation. “Without Jana Reddy's role, we cannot imagine JAC or even the formation of Telangana,” they said.
Former Minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir accused Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao of ruining the lives and careers of lakhs of jobless youngsters in the State. The suicide of unemployed youth Sunil Naik was due to the wrong policies of the TRS government, he said, adding that the government had pushed jobless youth into depression, some of them forced to resort to the extreme step.
He said Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had granted statehood for Telangana as she wanted to stop the youth from taking their own lives. However, he said, CM KCR had encroached upon all the resources of Telangana and started treating the State as his personal 'jagir'.
The former minister said it was laughable that leaders like Home Minister Mahmood Ali, who had never contested or won a councillor election, were questioning Jana Reddy on development. “It is not a joke to get re-elected from a constituency for seven terms.”
Mr Shabbir Ali said the TRS Ministers and leaders campaigning in Nagarjunasagar by-elections should not ask questions, but they should come with answers like the deadline by which the TRS government would fill all 1.91 lakh vacancies in government departments.
