Contesting elections in alliance with the BJP and Janasena in Andhra Pradesh, the TDP is now more worried about the pension issue. A recently leaked audio call conversation between a follower of TDP MP candidate Pemmasani Chandrasekhar and an employee in the TDP office is evidence of how the TDP is afraid of pensions. Pemmasani followers said that wherever Pemmasani campaigns, older people question him about pensions and why there is no counter from the party. In response, the TDP employee said that party national general secretary Nara Lokesh had given orders not to respond to the issue.
TDP employee says mistake is from party side
As per the leaked audio call conversation, following adverse reactions from the people on the ground regarding the pensions issue, Pemmasani asked his followers to inquire about what was actually going on and why the party was not taking any steps to control the damage. Consequently, a follower of Pemmasani called an employee working in the TDP office to inquire about this.
The TDP employee clearly stated that the actual mistake was from the party’s side. He mentioned that people are believing Chandrababu Naidu is the reason for this situation, and Nimmagadda Ramesh acted under Naidu’s direction to complain about pension distribution through village volunteers. When Pemmasani’s follower asked if anything could be done to control this damage, the TDP employee said there were instructions from Nara Lokesh not to respond to this issue. Additionally, Lokesh suggested covering up the issue with press meetings.
The follower of Pemmasani Chandrasekhar clearly stated that the pensions issue, especially the outrage from older people, is demoralising the party cadre, as they were unable to defend themselves. The TDP is making efforts to blame the YSRCP for not distributing pensions at the doorstep, but it is evident that people believe Chandrababu Naidu is the reason behind it. With almost 73 lakh pensioners in Andhra Pradesh, this could potentially lead all of them to turn against the TDP.
https://twitter.com/JavaYsrcp/status/1786102938588373452
Pensioners realise the conspirator is CBN.
On March 30, the Election Commission of India issued directives to the Andhra Pradesh government to stop deploying volunteers in pension distribution. Upon receiving the complaint from retired IAS and Citizens for Democracy member Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar regarding volunteers influencing voters on the ground, ECI issued these orders.
Consequently, almost 62,000 volunteers resigned from their posts and voluntarily started campaigning for the YSRCP in the elections. Even TDP tried hard to stop their resignations, but the High Court very clearly stated that after resignation, it’s their choice what they want to do, and the court has nothing to do with it. Meanwhile, the AP government deposited the pensions in the bank accounts of beneficiaries. But as the summer heat rises, older people and other pensioners are facing difficulties getting pensions from banks, standing there in long queues. Some older people died of the heatwave, and everywhere pensioners are criticising the Telugu Desam Party for this situation, alleging that Naidu did all this through Nimmagadda Ramesh.
TDP realised their own goal and tried to convince volunteers by promising pay hikes in their manifesto and attempting to blame the YSRCP for the pension issue, in order to garner positivity towards the party from pensioners. However, both the volunteers and pensioners learned of the conspiracy of the Telugu Desam Party, and now they are openly criticising Chandrababu Naidu for causing them trouble. If the majority of pensioners take an anti-TDP stance, there is no doubt it would be a huge blow for the party.