Raising tempo for bypoll, BJP's Veerraju calls Jagan 'Yesu Babu'

Tirupati, March 20 Raising the tempo for the April 17 Lok Sabha by-election in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh BJP President Somu Veerraju on Saturday resorted to religious politics by calling Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy a 'Yesu Babu' (Jesus Babu).

He referred to him in this fashion while claiming that Reddy is branding all the schemes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his own schemes.

"Back then Chandrababu, now Yesu Babu. Reddy's government emblazoned its own stickers on Modi's schemes," Veerraju said.

The BJP leader claimed that a bunch of schemes such as YSR Rythu Bharosa, Jaganna Todu, YSR Arogyasri and others are Modi's schemes which have been locally renamed.

The YSR Arogyasri is the new avatar of Rajiv Arogyasri, which was originally launched by Reddy's father and former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy in 2007.

Meanwhile, Veerraju met a group of lawyers in the temple town on Saturday and sought their support for the BJP-Janasena candidate for the forthcoming bypoll.

Earlier, he claimed that the people of Tirupati will teach a lesson to the ruling YSRCP in the by-election.

"Reddy is going berserk with power. But BJP and Janasena leaders will not be scared of YSRCP's threats," he claimed.

At a meeting to review poll preparedness on Friday, Veerraju had alleged that government officials are working for the ruling YSRCP and called on the party cadres to hit back at its alleged injustices.

He said the BJP will campaign along with the Janasena, its local ally run by actor-politician Pawan Kalyan, for the election, adding that the Prime Minister's thought process will be their arsenal for the bypoll.

Aimed at wooing the Telugu people, the BJP leader has been huckstering Central government schemes for several days now, trying hard to drive home the message that the BJP is doing a lot for the southern state.

However, it remains to be seen as to how much support the saffron party gets, as depriving Andhra Pradesh of the special category status and railway zone and now vowing to privatise the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant will not bode well for the BJP.

( With inputs from IANS )