Jaganmohan Reddy and Chandrababu Naidu are campaigning for Nandyal by-elections in Andhra Pradesh.
Highlights
- Jaganmohan Reddy repeats death wish for Chief Minister
- Hate speeches made in campaign for Andhra by-election
- Jaganmohan Reddy was rebuked by Election Commission last week
Jaganmohan Reddy abandoned any pretence of protocol today as he said, of political rival Chandrababu Naidu, "For your mistakes and betrayals, nothing wrong if you are punished with hanging." Mr Reddy, 44, has already been issued a showcause notice by the Election Commission for last week stating that he would find it
hard to object to Mr Naidu being "shot dead on the road".
Mr Reddy heads the main opposition party in Andhra Pradesh, the YSR Congress, named after his father and former Chief Minister YSR Reddy, who, just two days ago was accused by Mr Naidu, the incumbent Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, of
enabling an assassination attempt on him in 2003.
The welter of accusations - and death wishes - comes ahead of a crucial election later this month in the constituency of Nandyal, 200 km from the IT hub of Hyderabad.
Mr Reddy wants to exact revenge for Mr Naidu poaching 21 of his legislators after the last election in 2014. The lawmakers who shuffled over to the Chief Minister's party, the TDP, were rewarded with important posts; one became a minister. "Why should he not be called a thief?" Mr Reddy asked a public rally in Nandyal a few days ago.
Chandrababu Naidu this week accused Jaganmohan Reddy's father of enabling an assassination attempt against him.
In a case of getting mad and getting even, Mr Reddy's candidate from Nandyal has been recruited from the Chief Minister's party, which is fielding the nephew of the legislator whose death in March necessitated the by-election which will be held on the 23rd.
The Chief Minister has also turned to salty language in his expeditions to Nandyal. Twice, he
snapped at questions put to him by voters. "You take pensions that we give you. You use the roads built by us. You take rations and other benefits, why should you not vote for us?" Those who asked about undelivered promises and schemes he billed as Mr Reddy's "lackeys".
As the election gets nearer, there's no whisper campaign in the air here - it's high-decibel and coarse and forewarns that the next state election in 2019 could be a snaking one.