Are Cong, TD schemes to preempt Chiranjeevi?

The Congress and the Telugu Desam have come out with a number of populist schemes promising that they would implement several programmes for the people if elected to power in the May 2009 elections. Though elections are a cool 18 months away, these two main political parties rushed to announce the schemes, catching the attention of voters.

According to informed sources, the sudden rush in announcements is just a clever political ploy to preempt any move by popular film star Chiranjeevi from announcing a political party. Even if Chiranjeevi announces his own political party, these parties feel that it will not make any dent in their vote banks since they had already come out with a series of populist schemes including the Rs 2 a kg rice programme and free power to farmers. This is nothing but to confuse the voters. Chiranjeevi, in case, he forms a political party has to announce these same schemes. Then the Congress and the Telugu Desam will say that the film star has nothing new to offer to the voters, since they had already announced the populist schemes.

Naidu Promises: Gift of colour television sets?

Hyderabad: Telugu Desam President N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday continued the spate of promises on behalf of the party by announcing that he would include in its election manifesto a legal provision for the poor to sell assigned lands.

Addressing a press conference, he also declared that the TDP, if elected to power, would also ensure that every poor family living in rural and urban areas would have a house. To a question whether he would match the DMK Government’s gift of colour television sets, he quipped, “Why not, we shall see.”

Mr. Naidu justified the sops he proposes to give on the ground that the TDP had always been advocating an alternative economic policy to ensure that the benefits of reforms reached the poor. He called for a Statewide debate on the performance of the Congress Government as people needed to be informed of how it had ‘failed miserably’ in fulfilling its pre-poll promises. It should be a point-wise debate of the promises made and to what extent they were delivered.

Fact Sheet: Babu's exam paper for YSR

Yes, it's 100 questions. The Telugu Desam has been coming out with questionnaires time and again on various issues. First it began with a set of a dozen questions. Then it went to 30 and then to 50 and now it's altogether 100 questions. It is a sort of political examination which Telugu Desam supremo N Chandrababu Naidu has been conducting for his bete noire Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy.

On Sunday, the TD leadership came out with a set of 100 questions and demanded that Rajasekhar Reddy answer all of them. The questions ranged from so-called corruption in irrigation projects to the collapse of the scaffolding supporting the underconstruction flyover at Panjagutta in Hyderabad. There's a tagline attached to the question paper. YSR should answer the questions if he were sincere.

As usual Rajasekher Reddy does not bother to answer to TD questions. With the elections fast approaching Chandrababu Naidu is coming out with tougher questions and also increasing the number of questions. Telugu Desam senior leader Yanamala Ramakrishnudu posed the questions to the chief minister on behalf of the TD leadership.