Andhra Pradesh Education Minister and YSRCP leader Botsa Satyanarayana criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi, suggesting that he has diminished the prestige associated with his position.
Satyanarayana also alleged that the BJP is engaged in “massive corruption.”
“No party has done the kind of corruption that the BJP is indulging in now. In my political career, I have never seen such a corrupt party as the BJP. Modi is making the post of prime minister worthless,” Satyanarayana told reporters here.
He remarked that during PM Modi’s visit to the state for the election campaign, he appeared to be reciting a script prepared by someone else. This statement follows PM Modi’s election rally in Andhra Pradesh’s Anakapalle on Monday, where he criticized the Jagan Mohan Reddy government, asserting that the ruling YSRCP is synonymous with corruption, while the BJP stands for development.
“NDA government in the Centre is working for the welfare of the youth…If the central government can do so much work in Andhra Pradesh, then why can’t YSRCP? BJP’s mantra is development, development and development and YSRCP’s mantra is corruption, corruption and corruption,” PM Modi said in the rally.
In retaliation, Satyanarayana asserted that the BJP, TDP, and Jana Sena are complicit in exploiting the public.
“The BJP, TDP and Jana Sena are partners in corruption. PM Modi doesn’t know what are the issues in the state. The alliance of TDP, BJP and Jana Sena will never come to power in Andhra Pradesh,” Satyanarayana said.
The ruling YSRCP is running independently in all 25 parliamentary constituencies and the 175 seats of the state assembly. It faces competition from the Congress-led INDIA bloc and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by former CM N Chandrababu Naidu, and Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP).
Significantly, the TDP, Janasena, and BJP are NDA alliance members in the southern state. Under the seat-sharing agreement among NDA partners, the TDP was allotted 144 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha constituencies, while the BJP will vie for six Lok Sabha and 10 Assembly seats. Janasena will contest in two Lok Sabha and 21 Assembly seats. Elections for the 175-member Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh are slated for May 13, with the vote count scheduled for June 4.