Naidu tears copies of passbook, land title act

Vijayawada: Telugu Desam chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu, in a dramatic mode on Friday, tore the photocopies of a Pattadar Passbook and the AP Land Title Act at a public event.

Naidu expressed concern over the display of photo of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on the passbook and vowed to scrap the act once he is elected to power.

The TD chief had a hectic schedule as he addressed Prajagalam public meetings at five places -- Undi, Eluru, Gannavaram, Macherla (in rain) and Ongole. He fumed at Jagan Reddy for having his photo printed on the passbook. “I shall replace it with a government emblem,” he said.

Naidu also castigated the chief minister for coming up with the AP Land Title Act. This would deprive the opportunity to land owners to have the original land documents with them, he said.

He criticised the procedure recommended for resolving any dispute on ownership of land involving private persons, much unlike the present procedure. He even advised the people to burn photocopies of the passbook and the law on Saturday evening.

Naidu announced a host of promises to the voters if the TD-led alliance in AP is elected to power. These included sanction of three cents of land per family in villages and two cents in urban areas, sanction of TIDCO houses free of cost, social security pension of Rs 4,000 from April, fixing of power tariff at Rs 1.50 per unit for aquaculture, payment of wages to government staff on the first day of every month, release of the pending TD, DA, better interim relief and PRC, resolution of the issue of contributory pension scheme in a year, sanction of leaves to police on Saturdays and Sundays, completion of Polavaram project and provision of resentment and rehabilitation to the project-affected people as per provisions of Land Acquisition Act, 2013, restarting of Anna Canteens etc.

The TD chief said that Jagan Mohan Reddy supported the National Register of Citizens and Citizenship Amendment Act in Delhi and was playing cheap politics in AP.

Thanking the people who braved the heavy downpour and heard him at his meetings, Naidu told them that if they wanted protection to their properties and development of the state, they should vote for the TD-JS-BJP alliance this time.

He warned YSR Congress nominee Vallabhaneni Vamsi from Gannavaram assembly segment that he would be taken to task as he switched loyalty from TD to YSRC.

On the casting of postal ballots, Naidu said that a large number of employees turned up at facilitation centres and cast their vote in favour of the NDA and even declined to accept the offer of Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 made by the YSRC to vote for it. “This means that the government employees are looking for a change of guard in the state,” he said.

Naidu said the TD had extended all help to the Muslims by setting up a Urdu university and declaring Urdu as a second language. “We sanctioned the construction of a Haj House besides providing Dulhan, Ramjan Thota and honorarium to the Imams and mousis.”

The former CM said, “If you want development of AP by all means, vote for the NDA so that the double engine government will take up all requisite measures including development of Amaravati, completion of Polavaram etc.”