Jagan vows to make Hyd slum-free

HYDERABAD: Charging that TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu has not kept his promises, Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Friday said the Congress will transform Hyderabad into a slum-free city if the Congress is voted to power in the GHMC elections scheduled to be held on November 23. “That was the dream of my father Rajasekhara Reddy. While Naidu made several promises and never kept them, it was my father who made Greater Hyderabad a reality. And if the Congress gets the mandate in the civic polls, we will convert the entire urban region into a slum-free zone,” Jagan said while addressing gatherings at various places in the city on the first day of his two-day campaign for the GHMC polls. Jagan chose NTR Nagar at Kothapet, which falls under Maheshwaram assembly constituency, to kickstart his election campaign. The assembly constituency is represented by home minister P Sabita Indra Reddy and is the constituency from where YSR had kicked off the 2004 and 2009 assembly election campaigns. “I am just following the sentiment of my late father by beginning the campaign from Maheshwaram assembly segment,” Jagan said at NTR Nagar. On Friday, Jagan addressed public meetings at Saroornagar, L B Nagar, Uppal, Malkajgiri and Rajendranagar area covering about 15 assembly constituencies. However, the campaign was largely limited to criticising TDP president Naidu and Jagan made no reference to his earlier allegations that YSR’s policies were not being implemented by the current Rosaiah regime. “My father and our beloved leader used to say a leader should have credibility. If leader promises something, he has to stick to his word. But Naidu never kept his promises. On the contrary, he increased the price of rice from Rs 2 a kilo to Rs 5.25 a kilo,” the MP said. In the meetings, he compared YSR’s regime to that of Naidu’s rule. “YSR implemented all these programmes with the help of Sonia Gandhi. Earlier, the poor used to run after mandal revenue officers to get white ration cards. After YSR came to power, seven lakh cards were issued. My father also introduced the Arogyasri scheme for the poor,” he said. On the creation of Greater Hyderabad, Jagan said: When Naidu was the CM, he had issued a GO to create Greater Hyderabad but did not keep his word. It was my father who merged the surrounding 12 municipalities and created Greater Hyderabad. The Congress government has developed the city by carrying out works to the tune of Rs 43,600 crore. If we are voted to power in the GHMC elections, my father’s dream of making Hyderabad a slum-free city would become a reality,” he said. When people raised slogans at NTR Nagar that Jagan should become chief minister, he said: “One day, that will happen. I have your love and blessings of God.” Those who accompanied Jagan during his campaigning included Greater Hyderabad Congress Committee president D Nagender and ministers Sabita Indra Reddy and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy.