Congress MP candidate M.M. Pallam Raju and former MP V. Hanumantha Rao at a media conference in Kakinada on Friday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
KAKINADA
Congress candidate from Kakinada Lok Sabha constituency M.M. Pallam Raju on May 3 (Friday) said that the ground political situation in the country had made Prime Minister Narendra Modi “nervous, prompting him to throttle the voice of dissent”.
“The recent surveys suggest that India is witnessing the highest unemployment rate. People are struggling due to a steep rise in the prices of essential commodities. Mr. Modi knows it and he is nervous,” the former Union Minister told the media here.
Mr. Modi said that the Congress had become weak. If that is case, why did he freeze the accounts of the party? asked Mr. Pallam Raju.
Referring to the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise case, Mr. Pallam Raju said the Aam Aadmi Party president was the “most harassed Chief Minister in Indian history”. “Mr. Kejriwal was arrested in the alleged liquor scandal ahead of the elections. He has succeeded in sustaining his government, despite the harassment,” he said.
He alleged that China was sitting on the Indian borders. “The BJP is targeting Rahul Gandhi for questioning it. The BJP is trying to throttle the voice of dissent,” alleged the former Union Minister.
Mr. Pallam Raju accused the BJP of trying to weaken all the key institutions in the country. “Replacement of the Chief Justice of India with a Cabinet Minister in the selection of the Election Commission of India is a classic example of it,” he said.
Special Category Status
Reiterating the commitment of Congress to granting Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Pallam Raju said, “The YSRCP, TDP and BJP cannot protect the interests of the State. Only the Congress, in its national manifesto, has promised to grant teh SCS to the State.”
Describing the polls in Andhra Pradesh as “not an ordinary one”, Mr. Pallam Raju said, “The regional parties are distributing money for votes. At this juncture, people must think wisely and vote for good governance.”
Former MP and Telangana Congress leader V. Hanumantha Rao accused the BJP of playing a “double game” on the welfare and issues of Muslims in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
He questioned why Mr. Modi did not waive off crop loans of farmers if he could waive off loans of 16 lakh crore taken by the big corporates. “Mr. Modi is resorting to revenge politics, a trend which was not seen during the tenure of former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee,” he said.
