Lokesh asks TDP cadre to counter YSRCP propaganda ahead of local body polls

TDP national working president and IT Minister Nara Lokesh has called on party workers to ensure a decisive victory for alliance candidates across Andhra Pradesh in the local body elections due in October and November this year.

His appeal came on Wednesday after he unveiled a bronze statue of former Chief Minister and TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao at Kovur, following which he took part in a cadre meeting and a coordination meeting with party workers from the Kovur Assembly constituency.

Addressing the workers, Mr. Lokesh said the task of effectively countering what he described as the malicious propaganda of the YSR Congress Party rested with the party cadre. Referring to the conduct of the YSRCP during previous elections, he said the party had staged several dramas, and argued that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and he could not personally address every issue. He contrasted the TDP's position with that of the opposition, saying his party did not own dubious newspapers or television channels but could rely on its cadre strength, and that if workers spoke up, the public would not believe false stories.

Mr. Lokesh highlighted the welfare measures of the alliance government, stating that pensions were being provided on a scale unmatched elsewhere in India. He cited the Thalliki Vandanam scheme, under which financial assistance is given for every school-going child in a family, and the Stree Shakti initiative offering free bus travel for women. He also said various welfare schemes were being implemented for farmers, weavers, drivers and fishers.

The Minister claimed credit for the alliance government in filling 16,000 teacher posts and 6,000 police constable positions, and said the State had attracted prestigious projects such as Google and Royal Enfield. Asserting that the government was driving both development and welfare forward, he alleged that the previous YSRCP government had not filled a single teacher post during its tenure.