Lokesh talking about Democracy is a shame

Kadapa, September 3:YSR Kadapa District Party President and former MLA P. Ravindranath Reddy lashed out at Minister Nara Lokesh for claiming that democracy had triumphed in the Pulivendula ZPTC by-election. Addressing the media at the district party office, along with former MLA Raghurami Reddy and MLC Ramasubba Reddy, he said Lokesh, who trampled Ambedkar’s Constitution and implemented a so-called “Red Book Constitution,” had no moral right to speak about democratic values.
Ravindranath Reddy asked whether Lokesh had forgotten that Pulivendula and Ontimitta ZPTC elections were won through misuse of police and hired mobs. He condemned Lokesh’s derogatory social media posts against the massive turnout of people who came to meet YS Jagan during his Pulivendula visit.
“Instead of speaking about people’s issues, Lokesh glorifies rigged elections. Bringing hired men from outside, casting bogus votes, and then shamelessly claiming democracy flourished is nothing but intellectual bankruptcy. If YS Jagan had done the same, would Chandrababu have won in Kuppam or Lokesh in Mangalagiri? Today you enjoy freedom only because the YSRCP government upheld democratic spirit. Lokesh is pushing the state into lawlessness in the name of a Red Book Constitution,” he said. He added that the coalition leaders came to power only through EVMs, not people’s mandate, and vented their frustration over YS Jagan’s popularity.
YSRCP leaders Raghurami Reddy and Ramasubba Reddy announced that on September 9, protests would be held across Kadapa district over urea shortage and crop procurement failures. Farmers who invested over Rs. 1.3 lakh per acre in onion cultivation are unable to recover even labor costs, as onions fetch less than Rs. 300 per quintal compared to Rs. 12,000 under YSRCP’s intervention. Urea, priced at Rs. 270, is now sold at Rs. 600 in the black market, while sugarcane prices have crashed from Rs. 1 lakh per ton earlier to less than Rs. 15,000 today.
On development, Ravindranath Reddy recalled that the Kadapa APIIC Executive Center, initiated in 2020 and inaugurated in 2023 with industries, was achieved under YSRCP. The TDP-led coalition even tried to shift it to Vijayawada but was forced to retain it after protests. He ridiculed Lokesh for inaugurating only a smart kitchen in a school while ignoring the 25 new classrooms, labs, and full modernization done under Nadu-Nedu.

MLC Ramasubba Reddy criticized Lokesh for backtracking on the Rajoli balancing reservoir, vital for 90,000 acres under the KC Canal. Former MLA Raghurami Reddy said the coalition government has abandoned farmers, dismantled RBKs, e-Crop, and market intervention, and left farmers at the mercy of black marketers