BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu raised electoral heat in a politically charged Seemandhra with the star power of actor Pawan Kalyan as they addressed four massive rallies in Nellore, Chittor, West Godavari districts and Visakhapatnam city Thursday.
Launching an aggressive campaign in the coastal districts, Modi trained guns at Congress and YSR Congress, and asked people whether they wanted to put the future of country in the hands of ?scamsters?. ?Do you want ?swarna Andhra? or ?scam Andhra??,? he asked a well-attended rally in Nellore. ?Do you want ?scam India? or Scheme India??.?
Modi, whose party supported the statehood for Telangana, refrained from taking up the issue of Andhra Pradesh?s bifurcation, but promised all possible help for Seemandhra region. Elections to 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly seats in Coastal and Rayalaseema are to be held on May 7.
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Modi, Naidu and Kalyan, who recently floated his own party Jana Sena, came together at Maddanapalle town in Chittor district in the morning for their first public meeting. Maddanapalle is part of Rajampet LS constituency, which is currently represented by former Union minister D Purandeshwari, who quit Congress and is now contesting on a BJP ticket.
Targeting YSR Congress chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Modi told the crowd: ?You have to decide whether you want to be ruled by people who looted this state for years and were sent to jail by their own party or a person who can develop this new state. Give us a strong government at New Delhi and elect TDP-BJP government in Seemandhra with Chandrababu as your CM and see how Seemandhra (or Andhra Pradesh) is developed into a model state.?
Invoking Telugu pride, he accused the UPA of insulting the local populace by dividing Andhra Pradesh without taking people of Seemandhra into confidence. ?The government run by mother and son (Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi) in New Delhi have insulted Telugu people. They divided a state into Seemandhra and Telangana, but did not bother to consult people living here.?
At Nellore, Modi said that TDP-BJP combination in Seemandhra would work to create smart cities across the region while Tirupati, Nellore and other nearby urban centres would be developed as IT hubs. He promised to increase the special package for Seemandhra region. At Bhimavaram public meeting in West Godavari district, former Union Textiles Minister Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, who quit the Congress, joined the BJP in the presence of Modi and Naidu.
