Political blame game begins

TIRUPATI: Ahead of the polls, a political storm is playing out in the temple city Assembly segment, with a war of words between TD and the opposition parties. In an attempt to occupy the poll position and outdo the opposition party’s candidate, the leaders of TD, BJP, YSRC and Jana Sena have started mudslinging, in which the ruling Telugu Desam has became the chief target for leaders of all opposition parties.

The current political scenario in this segment clearly indicates that the TD is waging a multi-pronged war with opposition YSRC and former alliance parties such as BJP and Jana Sena.

It all started with BJP leader and former TTD board member G. Bhanu Prakash Reddy, who launched an attack against the ruling party by levelling allegations against Tirupati MLA M. Sugunamma. He alleged that the MLA and her entourage had been involved in black marketing the VIP break darshan tickets of TTD. He also involved the CM’s office in the issue, which damaged TD’s reputation considerably, particularly in this Assembly segment.

Following the issue, Congress leader P. Naveen Kumar Reddy also raised the same, and taking a step ahead he also made allegations against the close entourage of the MLA, who were allegedly involved in collecting bribes from the housing scheme beneficiaries.

Adding more fuel to the damage, TTD former chairman and former TD leader Chadalawada Krishnamurthy, who joined Jana Sena recently, also came forward all guns blazing at prominent leaders of TD in this constituency.

During a press conference held on Sunday at Tirupati, Mr Chadalawada questioned the Desam leaders about their involvement in irregularities that had taken place in TTD during the past one year. He also made serious allegations against the MLA and questioned the land grabbing charges against her. 

Mentioning about the land near urban hut, Mr Chadalawada alleged that the MLAs husband and former MLA M. Venkataramana occupied a two acre land and following in her husband’s footsteps, Sugunamma also grabbed another two acres and made huge amounts of money with the land settlement.

The allegations made by the opposition leaders spread among the people and it is needless to mention that these allegations caused severe damage to TD in this segment. To regain its lost reputation, TD leaders started minimising the damage by launching counter attacks on the opposition leaders.

TD district general secretary and TUDA chairman G. Narasimha Yadav supported the MLA and condemned the allegations on several occasions. He also threw open challenges to them on several occasions to prove their allegations.

On Sunday, to make a counter attack on Chadalawada, Yadav lashed out at him and called him a traitor. However, it is evident that TD has gained a negative image with all the allegations made by the opposition leaders.