Naidu's thick-skinned govt betrayed people of Andhra: Jagan Reddy

YSR Congress party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday alleged that the "thick-skinned" Andhra Pradesh government led by N Chandrababu Naidu has betrayed people of the state on all fronts.

Reddy, who culminated his Praja Sankalpa Yatra at Ichchapuram, Srikakulam, told ANI: "As part of this yatra, we have conducted public meetings through which we have heard the views of the people, their concerns expecting that the government would be pressurised to act. Unfortunately, the government is so thick-skinned that they didn't respond to the needs of the people."

Continuing his tirade against the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief, Reddy said: "If you ask a farmer, he will say that the Chandrababu Naidu-led state government has cheated them. He had promised to waive off Rs 87,612 crore farm loans. Today, the farm loans are more than Rs 1,20,000 crore. Naidu's promise proved to be such a farce that it did not even cover the interest burden. Out of the total amount which Naidu had promised, he has not even given Rs 3,000 crore per annum. Naidu himself has got heritage shops. He himself procures from farmers at cheap rates and sells it at double and triple rates. He has back-stabbed farmers. If you ask women or youngsters, they will say the same thing - Chandrababu Naidu has cheated us."

Furthermore, Reddy claimed that his Yatra has reassured people that there is someone to listen to their needs.

"This tour of the state has created hope amongst the people. There is a tremendous amount of anti-incumbency towards the current ruling party. There is tremendous amount of feelings within the people that this government has cheated them, betrayed them. The government has failed in all quarters," he added.

Reddy also asserted that the Special Status debate will definitely be an important issue in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. "The issue is very much alive," he said.

In 2003, Jagan's father Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy, who was the then Leader of Opposition in unified Andhra Pradesh, took up the Padayatra as a way of reaching out to the people of the state. He walked all the way through the state interacting with people from all sections of society and concluded the 'Praja Prasthanam' at the north-eastern tip of the state in Ichchapuram in Srikakulam district.

In line with this, Jagan began his Praja Sankalpa Yatra on November 6, 2017, at Idipulapaya in Kadapa, after prayers were offered at Rajasekhara Reddy's grave.

As part of the Yatra, Reddy covered a distance of 3,648 kilometres in 341 days. During the tour, he has visited 134 assembly constituencies, eight corporations, 54 municipalities, 231 mandal headquarters, and more than 2500 villages across all 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh.

The party also held a five-day long campaign titled 'Ninnu Nammam Babu' in 175 Assembly constituencies in the state.

During the Yatra, Reddy interacted with close to 1.5 crore people in his daily meetings, community interactions, and public meetings.