Time for nex-gen to take over TDP says Chandrababu Naidu

Mangalagiri : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday said TDP always encourages marginalized sections of society and gives opportunity to the educated youth to serve as members of Assembly, and Parliament. This has been the practice since the time of the late N T Rama Rao who founded the party, which brought self-respect to Telugus.

Now it is time for all the senior party leaders, including him, to hand over the baton to the "future generation". He said, “We are all just trustees (of the party). We have the responsibility to pass on what we inherited to our successors in the future."

Addressing the party leaders and cadres after formally launching the party's membership drive, Naidu said the TDP witnessed several challenges and crises. Nevertheless, it withstood all of them and would remain powerful in the future too.

This is for the first time that Naidu had spoken publicly about the future leadership of the party. He said several people earlier thought that the Telugu Desam was finished. But the TDP remained forever and will remain forever and for that, the younger generation needs to be well groomed.

Addressing the party leaders and workers, Naidu said TDP was the first political party to launch insurance cover for its workers to the extent of Rs 5 lakh besides other benefits.

He also assured that the TDP would stand by those workers who suffered during the previous YSRCP regime. Promising the party activists to legally resolve all the false cases registered against them, Chandrababu Naidu told the TDP activists to reach out to the people at the grassroots rather than making rounds to him. “Only those who work hard will be given proper recognition,” Chandrababu Naidu maintained.

He further said that he was not 2014 CM. He is 1995 CM and will not tolerate any indiscipline in the party irrespective of the positions one holds. Referring to the recent complaints of interference of some MLAs in the implementation of the free sand policy, he called upon the people to revolt if they found that anyone was charging more than what the government had approved.

He said in the last four months the alliance government had adopted six policies with the goal of job first and revised pensions to all sections. Free cooking gas cylinders scheme is being implemented from Deepavali while the garbage tax, the 217 GO and the Swarnakara (goldsmith) corporation have been revoked, the Chief Minister said.

He said that developmental works worth Rs 4,500 crore have been launched in rural areas while the works in the capital city of Amaravati will begin on full scale in December. The phase 1 of Polavaram project will be completed in another two years and industrial corridors are being set up at Orvakallu and Kopparthi.