Date:27/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/27/stories/2008042751040300.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Committed to NTR’s ideals: Yanamala

Staff Reporter

Kakinada: Despite its defeat in the 2004 Assembly elections, the TDP is committed to the ideals espoused by its founder N.T. Rama Rao and its foundations are still strong to catapult it to power once again, irrespective of the changes the State political scenario may undergo in the near future, says party polit bureau member and Tuni MLA Yanamala Ramakrishnudu.

Addressing the party’s general body meeting here on Friday, Mr. Ramakrishnudu said that the party had gone through many ups and downs in the last 25 years, but it never lost sight of its goals and it continues to fight for social justice and removing economic disparities.

The TDP had implemented various schemes for the people’s welfare during its nine-year rule. It had won global acclaim for the development achieved. Foreign countries had evinced interest in investing in Andhra Pradesh. The State’s image was tarnished by Housing Minister Botcha Satyanarayana, who had played a dubious role in the German car-maker Volkswagen’s decision to shift its proposed manufacturing unit from Visakhapatnam to a place outside the State. Besides, the Congress Government completely neglected the farm sector and failed in controlling prices of essential commodities, he said.

District chief

The time had come for people to distinguish between parties that merely boast of exemplary performance and those that were really committed to their welfare.

TDP leaders Metla Satyanarayana, Chikkala Ramachandra Rao, N. China Rajappa, Vanga Geeta and others called for concerted efforts to bring the TDP back to power, irrespective of the falsehoods being spread by the ruling party.

Earlier, Mr. China Rajappa, MLC, was sworn-in district party president in the wake of his predecessor Jyotula Nehru’s resignation to the post. Mr. Nehru recently announced his plans to “chart a new political course.”