Nara Lokesh assures safe drinking water for fluoride-hit Udayagiri constituency

Kondapuram: TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh said on Wednesday that the YSR Congress Party should own the responsibility for Udayagiri lagging behind in development though the people had voted in its favour in 2019 elections.

Addressing a public meeting in Kondapuram mandal in Udayagiri constituency in Nellore district here on Wednesday, the TDP leader said that he feels fortunate to carry out Padayatra in Udayagiri as it is the place where former Vice-President Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu started his political career.

Criticising the ruling party for neglecting the development of Udayagiri constituency, he alleged that the YSRCP suspended MLA Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy from the party as he had insisted that the State government execute development works in the constituency.

He alleged that YSRCP general secretary and govt advisor (Public Affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy was responsible for the suspension of Chandrasekhar Reddy as the latter had prevented Sajjala from grabbing 3,000 acres of government land in Udayagiri constituency.

Saying that Mekapati family had played a key role in ensuring the YSRCP victory in the constituency in 2014 and 2019, he said Chandrasekhar Reddy was made a scapegoat in the wicked politics being pursued by the ruling party.

Lokesh said after the TDP returns to power in 2024, it will set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the cases of land-grabbing in Udayagiri constituency.

Expressing concern over the fluoride problem being faced by the local people, he assured that safe drinking water will be provided through the water grid scheme.

He came down heavily on the ruling party for ignoring the progress of Nellore district even after the people provided them victory in 10 Assembly constituencies in 2019.

He further said, “I appeal to the district people to see what the YSRCP has done to them and extend support to the TDP in the next elections to ensure development.”

He said the TDP was responsible for providing water to 8 lakh acres in Nellore district by completing irrigation projects like Somasila and Kandeleru reservoirs.

He said that TDP will make paddy cultivation profitable for farmers by bringing down the cost of cultivation per acre. Earlier, people from the villages like Ramanujapuram and Kommi met the TDP leader and submitted representations on issues like drinking water problem, drainage facility, roads and other infrastructure facilities.