Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday launched an attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his party YSR Congress, accusing them of "fostering corruption, sand and land mafia, and criminal activities in the state". He made the remarks while addressing a poll rally in the Dharmavaram assembly constituency in Sri Sathyasai district.
Assembly elections in the state are being held alongside the Lok Sabha polls. Voting for both is scheduled to be held on 13 May.
“Jagan Mohan Reddy has derailed the development train. Development is zero, investment is stagnant and unemployment is at its highest. Infrastructure projects are stalled but the industry of land mafias is running in full swing,” Shah said in his address.
The BJP is in alliance with N. Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and actor-politician Pawan Kalyan's JanaSena in the state.
Pitching the TDP as the alternative for the state and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the choice for the Centre, Shah said he was in the state to lend strength to the BJP-TDP-Jana Sena alliance’s fight against "corruption, crime, mafia, and conversion in the state".
“We formed this alliance to bring an end to the rule of goondas and criminals, rampant corruption, and sand mafia in the state and to make Amaravati the capital of Andhra Pradesh once again,” Shah said.
“The whole country has decided to make Modi the Prime Minister for the third time,” he added, saying “I.N.D.I.A bloc leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, are unfit to lead the country”.
On the campaign trail in Andhra Pradesh, Shah sought to list the achievements of the Modi government, particularly the completion of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. “This Congress... has been conspiring for many years to prevent the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. But with all your blessings, Narendra Modi, after winning his second term, constructed a beautiful Ram Mandir in Ayodhya”.
The Union Home Minister also pledged to expedite the Polavaram project under the leadership of Chandrababu Naidu, urging voters to support the NDA for its rapid completion.
“The completion of Polavaram is our full responsibility, as it is the lifeblood of the people of Andhra. While we strive to provide drinking water and irrigation water to the People, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is embezzling crores of rupees, hindering the progress of this project,” Shah said.
The Polavaram Project, an under-construction multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in the Eluru and East Godavari districts, holds immense significance for the development of Andhra.