Known for his controversial remarks, senior Telugu Desam Party leader and sitting MP from Anantapur J C Diwakar Reddy does not mince words when he wants to put forth his view point, even if it causes a lot of embarrassment to the party.
On Monday, JC triggered a fresh controversy by declaring that he had to spend more than Rs 50 crore on the elections in his constituency.
Stating that elections to the assembly and parliament have become a very costly affair, he said on an average, each candidate had spent not less than Rs 25 crore in the parliament elections in Andhra Pradesh.
“This is not confined to just the Telugu Desam Party. Candidates of all the political parties had spent money like water. According to my assessment, the total expenditure of the elections this time for all the political parties has crossed Rs 10,000 crore,” he said, adding that he was afraid how much it would cost for the parties in the next elections.
JC, however, found fault with the voters for selling their votes for money.
“They are not accepting anything less than Rs 2,000 per each vote. Even beggars and daily wage workers are demanding Rs 5,000 per vote. This system has to change. We need to have strong political reforms to curtail this expenditure,” he said.
The TDP MP expressed hope that Naidu would emerge victorious in the elections as he had introduced more than 120 welfare schemes for the poor, besides other development programmes.
“But only two schemes – Pasupu Kumkuma and old age pensions – will bail him out and fetch him victory,” he said.
