Telugu Desam Party general secretary and MLC Nara Lokesh’s so-called charge-sheet against one-year old YSR Congress party rule led by chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has become a hot topic of debate in the political circles.
YSRC general secretary and parliamentary party leader V Vijay Sai Reddy has taken pot shots against “Chitti Naidu,” as he refers to Lokesh, for making baseless allegations against the Jagan government. And TDP leaders, too, came out with counter-reactions.
Minister for tourism Avanti Srinivas, who doesn’t lose any opportunity to take a dig at his political rival in Visakhapantam Ganta Srinivas Rao, used Lokesh’s criticism to do so. He wondered whether Ganta would accept Lokesh leadership of the TDP.
He sought to know whether Lokesh was not responsible for the defeat of the TDP in the last elections.
“It was Lokesh who had ruined the party and the leadership of his father Chandrababu Naidu. He was responsible for casteism, corruption and irregularities in the state. The TDP has reached an irreparable state only because of Lokesh,” Avanti said.
He alleged that former minister Kala Venkat Rao was being the scape goat for the party’s defeat in the last elections and Lokesh was conspiring to remove him from AP TDP chief post.
“In fact, Lokesh should step down from the general secretary post for being responsible for the defeat. Can any MLA accept his leadership? Can Ganta Srinivasa Rao openly say Lokesh is his leader?” the minister asked.
Avanti said people won’t believe the statements of Chandrababu Naidu and Lokesh.
“They are confined to only Zoom and Twitter. A person who can’t win even as an MLA has no right to criticise chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy,” he said.