Amaravati, Aug 13 (IANS) AICC in-charge for Andhra Pradesh Manickam Tagore on Wednesday hit back at former Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy after he alleged that Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is in touch with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu through hotline.

The Congress MP said that the people of Andhra Pradesh know that Chandrababu Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Jagan and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan are together.

Tagore also told Jagan that Rahul Gandhi has not surrendered to PM Modi and HM Shah like him. He dared Jagan to join the Congress party’s fight against ‘vote chori’. He said instead of appreciating Rahul Gandhi for the fight to protect democracy, Jagan gave his own imaginary stories.

At a press conference in Amaravti on Wednesday, Jagan ruled out support to the Congress party’s fight against ‘vote chori’.

Questioning the silence of Rahul Gandhi on the ‘vote chori’ issue raised by YSRCP after last year’s elections, Jagan alleged that Chandrababu Naidu was in touch with Rahul Gandhi through Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.

“Why didn’t join us when we raised a similar issue after the 2024 elections, where there was a variation of 12 percent between the votes polled and counted,” asked Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The YSRCP chief also questioned Rahul Gandhi’s silence on what he called the corruption of TDP-led coalition government. “Congress spokesperson Manickam Tagore criticizes only me, as Chandrababu Naidu is in touch with Rahul Gandhi through a hotline, or else how can he show a blind eye on the corruption of the coalition government with the mushrooming of belt shops, permit rooms, and selling liquor at more than MRP,” he asked.

In a video statement posted on ‘X’, Manickam Tagore said Rahul Gandhi was not fighting for Congress alone but he was fighting for democracy.

“He has surrendered to (Amit) Shah and he is not afraid of Modi like Jagan. We are fighting the battle against HM Shah and PM Modi to protect India’s democratic rights,” the Congress MP said.

He alleged that in 39 to 48 Lok Sabha constituencies, Amit Shah organised manipulation with the Election Commissioners

He said Rahul Gandhi was embarking on yatra in Bihar on the issue of SIR to protect people’s right to vote.

“Jagan must have minimum courtesy to acknowledge and appreciate work of Rahul Gandhi instead of finding fault and giving his own imaginary stories about Babu and other stories,” he said.

Tagore said if Jagan has guts to fight against Modi and Shah, he should join the march to be led by state Congress president Y. S. Sharmila on August 14 in Vijayawada.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) general secretary also reacted to Jagan’s remark saying their only true ‘hotline’ is with the people of Andhra Pradesh.

“Forget your ‘vote chori’ excuses — you were voted out because people were tired of your ‘note chori’ in scam after scam. You know exactly what I’m talking about,” posted Lokesh, who is son of Chandrababu Naidu.

Your baseless attempts to mislead will fail. Our double-engine sarkar is here to deliver, and under the leadership of Narendra Modi and Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra Pradesh will rise to number one again, he added.

–IANS

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