Praja Sankalpa Yatra Diary, Day 118: Pervasive Anger Against TDP’s Insincerity On SCS  

Kavuru, Guntur district: Today’s padayatra proceeded amidst the raging agitation for special category status to Andhra Pradesh. The masses of the state have realised that SCS is the lifeline that AP needs. Walking with them, inspired by their commitment in this sizzling heat, I felt overwhelmed by the sincerity they showed. My resolve to fight for special category status to the state got strengthened further. I stood by the agitators and participated at Ankireddypalem in the road blockade there to express my solidarity with them for this just cause.

Their eyes were blazing with the anger over injustice that was meted to the state at the time of bifurcation. They stood with placards in their hands raising slogans for special category status to the state, as they insisted that SCS to AP alone was the Sanjeevini, the magic cure which they were determined to secure even if it meant sacrificing their lives. This was the level of their commitment, the scale of their sincerity.

They acknowledged the fact that I had been single-minded in my pursuit of the aim of securing SCS to AP all along. They told me that I did not deviate from this path for a moment. I assured them that I would not rest till AP was granted Special Category Status and thanked them for their support. They vented their fury on Chandrababu Naidu who changed his tune on SCS by the hour and it was evident that their resentment about his shifting stance was simmering everywhere.

The same scene repeated itself along every step of the Padayatra from Chilakaluripeta to Kavuru—college students shouting from passing buses expressing their solidarity with me on the demand for SCS, women coming forward to fight for the cause for the sake of future generations and urging me on; the elderly lending their voice in support for the demand for SCS and children joining the call too! No leader representing the masses can afford to ignore such a pervasive sentiment which has clearly rocked the entire state. It is a call which rings loud and clear from every nook and cranny of every single hamlet to the national capital. YSRCP has been in the forefront of this battle for SCS to the state and people everywhere are aware of it, as they have been telling me. They acknowledge the fact that YSRCP has been waging a relentless struggle for this cause. They told me that I had been unwavering in my stance and firm in my commitment. What appears odd is that Chandrababu Naidu wants to misuse this just, common cause of the people of the state, twisting it to meet his own selfish ends! He now acts as though he has been championing the cause of SCS over these four years! No matter how many dramas he enacts, people can see through his game. This becomes evident if you sense their pulse and are amidst them. My conviction to fight for SCS to AP and continue to lead this movement, justifying the faith people repose in YSRCP, became stronger.

Read: Chandrababu Pledged AP’s Future To Centre: YSRCP

During the course of my padayatra , residents of YSR Colony met me and narrated their troubles to me. They told me that problems related to this colony where the houses were built during the tenure of my father, the late Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy, were completely neglected by the TDP regime. School for the children of the village was miles away, water was extremely scarce and rice from ration shops had to be fetched from another village, they lamented. The villages there did not have primary health care centres, they observed. They wondered what kind of a state AP was! How can we survive if even basic facilities are not provided to us, they questioned. Their observations, and more importantly the suffering they had to undergo for basic facilities and common amenities left me deeply pained. My father had built this colony for the poorest of the poor and Chandrababu Naidu denies basic facilities to them! This mirrors his attitude towards the needy. I assured them that Rajanna Rajyam was not far away and that their lives will change for the better.

Similarly, to see and hear about the agony being experienced by the elderly at Lingamguntla is something beyond description. Of the 18 people who met me, eight were being denied their pension. 10 others were not getting their pension although they were entitled to it. All of them were victims of the torture being inflicted upon the poor by Janmabhoomi committee members who had to be bribed for any such benefit. They went from pillar to post chasing insensitive government officials, without any success. Nothing works without the recommendation of TDP leaders, they said. Even the government officials felt powerless. The elderly here were vexed after all their efforts came to nought. They prayed that YSRCP should come to power. “The Chandrababu government should go,” they said, in anger. To deny the poor pensions and to display such apathy towards them is unpardonable. To attach political affiliations and labels to welfare schemes is an unhealthy practice which will boomerang upon the TDP government.

I have a question for the chief minister—the Lok Sabha is being adjourned day after day over the past five days because the House is not in order. Have your partymen ever requested members of other political parties who are trooping into the well of the speaker to cooperate? Is there one such instance? This itself shows your sincerity towards special category status. For how long will you continue to deceive the people of the state with your dramas?