TD leaders begin throwing their weight around

Visakhapatnam: Three veteran leaders from north coastal Andhra – K. Atchannaidu, Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu and Ganta Srinivasa Rao - have begun throwing their weight around.

While deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan and IT minister Nara Lokesh announced that the new government would not indulge in politics of vengeance and law would take its own course, the two veterans charted a different course on Tuesday.

Agriculture minister Atchannaidu decreed that officials would have to help the party cadre. Ayyanna Patrudu screamed at irrigation and municipal officials in Narsipatnam for their “bad quality” road works.

Ganta Srinivasa Rao took a media team and local leaders to the controversial Rushikonda Resort without intimating the party bosses and made some premature statements on his own.

Atchannaidu, addressing party supporters at a rally promised that the works of TD affiliates in government offices would be expedited on a priority basis. The rally, attended by civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu, saw Atchannaidu promising TD workers that they would be treated with courtesy by government officials. He threatened to sack employees who failed to do this.

“During the five years of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's government, our leaders and activists faced numerous insults. Now that our government is in power, we will ensure our workers' tasks are completed quickly at all levels of government,” Atchannaidu said.

His statements drew mixed reactions. Critics said these undermined the integrity and neutrality of public service. TD supporters justified the minister’s stand, saying this was a necessary response to TD activists’ past grievances.

A video clip of Atchannaidu’s speech has gone viral on social media, fueling a debate.

Bheemili MLA-elect Ganta Srinviasa Rao took the local leaders and media to the controversial Rushikonda resort to expose its opulence that cost the government Rs500 crore. His remarks on its proposed use after the visit of chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu raised many an eyebrow.

Ayyanna Patrudu was enraged when he saw potholes on the roads in his home town Narsipatnam. He summoned the municipal and R and B officials to his seat and abused them for the bad-quality works.

“I am going to be Speaker and make you stand in the Assembly hall,’’ he warned them.