TDP marches against corruption

HYDERABAD - Andhra Pradesh’s main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) organised a march against corruption here Sunday and demanded that the Lokpal Bill be passed in the budget session of parliament with necessary amendments.

Led by former chief minister and TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, the party leaders and activists walked from Golconda Military Hospital to Bapu Ghat in Langar Houz and paid their homage to Mahatma Gandhi.

Veteran Telugu journalist Potturi Venkateshwarlu administered an oath to the participants that they would fight corruption in every sphere of life.

NTR Memorial Trust, which is run by the TDP, organised the march in association with a couple of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in response to the call given by civil groups for a nation-wide campaign against corruption on Martyrs’ Day, Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary.

The march marked the beginning of the TDP’s campaign against corruption. Terming the campaign as apolitical, Naidu said it would be intensified throughout the state and the country with like-minded parties and NGOs.

Naidu, the longest-serving chief minister of Andhra Pradesh (1995-2004), told reporters that the campaign was aimed at creating public awareness on the magnitude of corruption.

The TDP chief demanded that the Lokpal Bill be passed in the budget session of parliament with necessary amendments. Calling for a nation-wide debate on the bill, he said the prime minister, ministers, MPs and state legislators should be brought under the purview of the Lokpal.