Krishnapuram, Srikakulam district: My Padayatra proceeded through Amadalavalasa today. Staff of the Urban Health Centre, who met me, told me that their salaries were enhanced only during my father’s tenure. After Chandrababu assumed office, forget about salaries, they began to suffer from a sense of job insecurity now, they complained.

After turning urban health centres into chief minister’s health centres, they have been handed over for kickbacks to a corporate entity, they pointed out. While earlier Rs. 66,700 were given to run each health centre, this amount has been inflated to Rs.4.20 lakhs, a six-fold increase. When asked if their salaries are being hiked, they replied that leave alone any enhancement, many of them were being removed from service. When questioned if healthcare was any better in terms of facilities and medicines, they replied that it had only become worse under the TDP government. They said that they did not know whose pockets were being lined with these funds and expressed deep anguish at the state of affairs. They lashed out at Chandrababu Naidu’s duplicity.

Representatives of the CPS employees association came to me. In the Telangana assembly, the TDP questions why CPS is not being scrapped. In Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu maintains that scrapping CPS is not within their purview. In Telangana, one of the TDP election promises in the manifesto is doing away with CPS. In Andhra Pradesh, cases were filed against employees protesting against CPS. In one such protest on Gandhi Jayanthi, cases were filed against 26 people including the 80 year-old father of an employee! How inhuman is this!

For the government to behave in this vengeful manner against farmers, employees and its own people is a reflection of its arrogance and cruelty. I noticed leaders and party workers on my Padayatra keenly following the results of Telangana elections which generated great interest. The biggest political chameleon in the country who spent crores of money looted from Andhra Pradesh, hoping to buy votes in Telangana elections and who went in for an unholy alliance shamelessly throwing all scruples to the wind, only to wriggle out of Notes-for-Votes and other cases, got a big slap in the face from the people of Telangana.

It was a resounding blow to such leaders who thought that they could influence the outcome of Telangana elections with ill-gotten money and propaganda from select media outlets.

I have a question for the chief minister—During the course of campaigning for Telangana elections leaders of political parties repeatedly pointed a finger at you and criticised your involvement in the note for vote case. Why did you keep mum, like a thief bitten by a scorpion, to translate a popular Telugu adage? You said during the course of your election campaign in Telangana that turncoat MLAs should be defeated. Do you have the moral courage to say this in Andhra Pradesh?