VIJAYAWADA: TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu lashed out at Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, describing him as ‘Dalit Drohi’.
Addressing the Praja Galam meeting at Payakaraopet in Visakhapatnam district on Sunday, he said Dalits benefited more during the previous TDP regime, and suffered a lot in the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
“He cancelled 27 Dalit welfare schemes. When Dr Sudhakar from North Andhra region asked for masks during Covid-19, the YSRC government had harassed him and made him die,” Naidu observed.
To strike a chord with Dalit voters in Payakaraopet, a constituency reserved for SCs, he emphasised that the TDP upheld the principles of BR Ambedkar, focusing on social justice and eradicating untouchability in the society. He recalled the TDP’s initiatives during the era of united Andhra Pradesh, including the constitution of the Justice Punnaiah Commission and the implementation of its 40 recommendations.
The TDP chief slammed Jagan for driving companies out of the State. He contrasted the TDP’s vision of attracting IT companies and industries to Andhra Pradesh, with Jagan’s association with illegal activities, specifically mentioning the influx of drugs into the State.
Naidu expressed disappointment that Visakhapatnam, which he intended to develop as an IT and financial hub, had become associated with criminal activities and drug trafficking under Jagan’s leadership. He highlighted the lack of positive change in the people’s lives over the past five years, asserting that the living expenses have not decreased nor incomes increased. He further slammed Jagan for ‘embezzling’ Rs 40,000 crore from Uttarandhra, leading to unrest, land grabbing, and violence in the previously peaceful region.
Later in Gajuwaka, continuing his criticism of Jagan, Naidu described him as an addict of luxuries as evidenced by Palatial buildings on Rushikonda, while giving houses with insufficient space to the poor and pushing them into a debt trap.
Recalling his efforts during the Hudhud cyclone in Visakhapatnam to revive the Port City, he rued that Jagan had turned Vizag into a ganja hub, and 25,000 kg of drugs imported to Vizag stood testimony to it.
Naidu asserted that once the NDA comes to power in the State, all the wrongs done would be set right, and stern action would be taken against wrongdoers. Calling Jagan a leech sucking the blood of the State, Naidu said it is time to send off ‘Bhasmasura’. On the occasion, he promised to take up the issue of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant with the Centre and see that it is not privatised.