The Aryavarth Express
Agency (Andhra Pradesh): Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president YS Sharmila on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “ineligible” to enter the state as he has allegedly “cheated” it for the past 10 years.
Sharmila accused Modi of “shedding crocodile tears” for Andhra Pradesh due to the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. She stated, “You are ineligible to enter the state. First seek the forgiveness of Andhra Pradesh people. For 10 years you have cheated the state and now you are shedding crocodile tears,” during a press conference in Kadapa.
Brandishing a radio, the APCC chief declared she would send it as a gift to the PM so he could listen to the ‘Mann ki Baat’ of the Telugu people. Sharmila suggested that the Prime Minister’s recent visits to the state were driven by election motives rather than development efforts.
After conducting two meetings in Andhra Pradesh on May 6, Modi is scheduled to participate in two more campaign activities in the state on Wednesday, making it four election-related events within a week of the May 13 polling day.
Challenging the Prime Minister to fulfill his promises to Andhra Pradesh, Sharmila demanded he provide an affidavit confirming these commitments. She posed several questions, asking why Andhra Pradesh was “backstabbed” despite being promised special category status in Parliament and why Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s reverse tendering was not halted, particularly regarding the Polavaram Project, which she claimed was undermined by lowering its height.
Additionally, Sharmila questioned why the Amaravati capital city, whose foundation was laid by Modi, had not materialized even after a decade. She also highlighted the unfulfilled bifurcation promises, such as the establishment of the Visakhapatnam railway zone.
Sharmila is running against her cousin Y S Avinash Reddy, the YSRCP candidate, for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat in the upcoming elections. The Communist Party of India (CPI), Congress, and CPI (M) are partners in the INDIA bloc in Andhra Pradesh.
Elections for the 175-member Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh are scheduled for May 13, with vote counting set for June 4.