BJP leader V Varaprasad Rao on Tuesday said it was important for the NDA to return to power at the Centre as it would hold the key for Andhra Pradesh’s development.
Rao, one of the three candidates chosen by BJP to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh, along with C M Ramesh and K Geetha, thanked the party leadership for choosing them and underlined the importance of NDA coming to power for the development of the state.
Rao, candidate from Tirupati Lok Sabha seat, said he is very happy to be fielded in the elections by a party like BJP and heaped praise on the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“When I was the member of Parliament between 2014 and 2019, I had seen the dynamism of Modi. How he has been empowering women. How he is trying to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor,” said Rao, on the sidelines of a BJP office-bearers meeting in Vijayawada.
He observed that the Central government under the leadership of Modi has developed several national highways and also helped him in fulfilling various requests pertaining to the Railways, such as granting train halts and others.
Rao highlighted that he has seen the proactive development done by the BJP government and was waiting for an opportunity to work for it.
Further, he noted that the saffron party is a disciplined one which is not interested in local politics but development and empowerment.
Meanwhile, Rao said he still doesn’t know why he was demoted from being an MP to an MLA by the ruling YSRCP.
Rao, a former IAS officer, who joined the saffron party on Sunday was announced as the BJP candidate from Tirupati (SC) constituency.
He was an MP representing the YSRCP from the same constituency between 2014 and 2019.
He also went on to become an MLA from the same party from Gudur segment in 2019.
Within a few hours of his joining BJP, his candidature was announced by the party.
Echoing Rao’s thoughts, the party’s Anakapalli candidate Ramesh thanked the BJP’s national and state leadership for giving him a ticket to contest the polls.
Ramesh said he hoped to help develop Anakapalli constituency if he emerged victorious at the hustings.
Geetha, who will be contesting from Araku constituency, thanked the party’s leadership for giving her an opportunity and recalled that she had carried out several welfare measures between 2014 and 2019 as an MP.
In 2014, Geetha had won from the same constituency on a YSRCP ticket, however, later she switched over to BJP.
She alleged that Andhra Pradesh had fallen behind in the past five years under Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s rule.
Rao, Ramesh and Geetha are three of the six BJP candidates who would be contesting from the state as part of a seat-sharing deal between NDA partners-BJP, TDP and Janasena.
Elections for 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh will be held simultaneously on May 13 and the results will be declared on June 4.
