VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu took strong exception to the attitude of YSRCP president and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, and the tours of the latter intended to promote rowdyism and violence in the State.
Referring to Jagan’s use of the phrase “rappa rappa narakadam” (slaughter) from film dialogues, Naidu questioned whether this meant he would kill people in real life too.
He slammed Jagan’s psychological outlook, stating, “His condolence tours are instigating rowdyism and violence. He has violated all police permissions for his tours, held gatherings in narrow alleys leading to stampedes, encouraged violence, and blamed police.”
Speaking to mediapersons at the State Secretariat on Thursday, the Chief Minister further pointed out that displaying placards with slogans like “Hit them, kill them” and celebrating it was dangerous.
“No political leader or party in the country indulges in such behaviour. Encouraging this kind of culture is highly dangerous. They are installing statues for ganja gangs, betting groups, and rowdies. Is this the kind of leadership we want for our future?” he questioned.
Naidu asserted that the NDA government will act on the misdeeds committed during the previous regime. “You can’t say what you did is automatically legal. Politics cannot be a cover for rowdyism. A man who died a year ago, is now being condoled. Nagamalleswara Rao died during the YSRCP regime, before the NDA government took office. Statues are being erected to glorify rowdies as heroes. If such people flood the streets, it will lead to dangerous consequences. The public must stay alert. If a person dies after being hit by a YSRCP leader’s vehicle, will they not even care?” Naidu asked.
He emphasised that maintaining law and order in the State is a top priority for the coalition government, and urged people to think seriously about the kind of leadership they want to shape the future.
Naidu called for the grand celebration of International Yoga Day in Visakhapatnam on June 21. “The State is aiming to achieve two Guinness World Records, and a total of 22 world records through this Yoga Day,” he said. Highlighting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the event, he stressed that the programme will be held in a manner that attracts global recognition.
Giving the details of Yoga Day event, he said 25,000 tribal students will perform Surya Namaskar for 108 minutes. The objective is to set records for the largest group, and the most people performing Surya Namaskar simultaneously. Elaborate arrangements have been made along a 26 km stretch from RK Beach to Bhogapuram for 3.19 lakh people to perform yoga simultaneously.
“We estimated 2 crore registrations for Yoga Day participation, but registrations have surpassed our expectations and reached 2.39 crore,” he said.
Yogandhra initiative, running from May 21 to June 21, has included over 15,000 yoga competitions. A total of 5,451 master trainers have contributed to its success. Certificates have been issued to 1,05,58,299 participants of various yoga programmes. Every participant has been linked with Aadhaar, and provided with a QR code, Naidu highlighted.