Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said that with a huge mandate, the people of Andhra Pradesh have entrusted them with a responsibility and assured that they will try to live up to people’s expectations.
Day after the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance stormed to power with a landslide victory, Naidu assured people that they are here to serve them. “We are not rulers. We are here to serve you,” he said.
Stating that they have a responsibility to put the state back on the rails, the TDP chief said they would prepare a plan and move ahead accordingly.
Naidu said that the new government has the task of rebuilding the state’s economy and also implementing the promises made in the election manifesto including ‘Super Six’.
Naidu, who is set to become the chief minister for a fourth time, attributed the massive victory of the alliance to the collective efforts of all the allies. He said from the central leadership to the leaders and workers on the ground, all worked with sincerity and in coordination to achieve the goal.
The 74-year-old claimed that in his long political journey, he had never seen a government like what he saw in the last five years. “Not just a sector or an organisation, it undermined all the democratic institutions,” he said.
Naidu claimed that the alliance aimed to make people win and make the state stand up again.
“I have seen several elections. It was my 10th election. This was a historic election,” he said, referring to enthusiasm among people to cast their votes.
He said voters living in the US spent their own money to come and cast their votes.
“People working as daily wagers in other states in the country came to their home state to vote. I’m unable to describe their commitment and I don’t know how to thank them,” he said.
“This election can be written with golden words in the history of TDP and the state of Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
He drew a comparison with the massive mandate TDP had received in united Andhra Pradesh in 1983 after the government led by N. T. Rama Rao was toppled “undemocratically”.
He also mentioned the huge victory of TDP in 1994 when the then ruling party Congress could not get even the seats required for the status of the main opposition party.
TDP-JSP-BJP alliance won 164 seats in the 175-member Assembly with YSRCP’s tally being reduced to just 11.
Chandrababu Naidu alleged that under YSRCP rule people were deprived of even basic freedoms like freedom of speech. “There was arrogance, autocracy and repression and people were not ready to tolerate all this,” he said.
The TDP chief said for five years the leaders and workers of TDP suffered under the YSRCP rule as they were arrested and false cases were booked against them.
He alleged that in five years Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government caused the damage of 30 years. “Institutions were destroyed, the economy collapsed and huge debts were raised. We need to check the extent of public debts raised,” he said.
He thanked Jana Sena leader Pawan Kalyan for coming forward to join hands with the TDP to avoid division of votes. He also thanked the BJP for joining the alliance.
Naidu thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and state BJP president D. Purandeswari.
The former chief minister recalled the incident wherein his wife and family were insulted in the State Assembly. “I had not panicked and felt sad even when I was attacked with bombs,” said Naidu, referring to an assassination attempt by Maoists in 2003.
“I decided it wouldn’t be right to stay in Kaurava Sabha and pledged to return to the Assembly only after winning the election. People cooperated with me to fulfil this pledge,” he added.