CM, Chiru to campaign for by-polls

Former minister JC Diwakar Reddy on Monday revealed that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Praja Rajyam Party president K Chiranjeevi will campaign in the by-elections on behalf of Congress candidates DL Ravindra Reddy and YS Vivekananda Reddy in the ensuing by-elections for the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly constituencies respectively.

Expressing confidence over the winning chances of Congress candidates, Mr Diwakar Reddy told media persons on Assembly premises that the people of Kadapa Constituency would vote for Congress candidates after seeing the performance of government and the schemes and programmes implemented.

“The wave is in favour of Congress candidates in the by-elections,” the former minister stated and added that he would intensify his campaign in favour of the party candidates.

Reacting on the allegation leveled by former minister Konda Surekha that Congress leaders are pumping money to influence the votes, Mr Diwakar Reddy said that the allegations were baseless and far from truth. He said there was no necessity for the Congress to spend a huge amount of money to influence voters.

The former minister also ‘appealed’ to YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan Reddy to ‘share’ the secret behind his astounding growth in assets so that others may also benefit. He pointed out that Mr Jaganmohan Reddy had declared that his assets stood at Rs 365 crore, in the affidavit filed before the Election Commission at the time of filing his nomination papers.

Condemning suspected gang-rape of an Intermediate student at Narayanaguda in the city on Sunday, Mr Diwakar Reddy demanded that the police arrest the guilty immediately. Regretting the incident, he stated that the people of the city should be cautious and cooperate with the police to ensure that such incidents are not repeated.