Chandrababu Betrayed The Hopes Of 5 Crore AP Citizens

Atchampet Junction, East Godavari: The proceedings in the Lok Sabha yesterday caused deep anguish in me. The issue of special category status to Andhra Pradesh, which is a matter of life and death to the people of the state, was treated in a casual manner in the lower house of the Parliament. It is unforgivable on the part of political parties to use this critical lifeline to the state to score brownie points over each other.

For four years, the YSRCP has been waging a relentless fight for SCS to the state and had given notices for a no trust vote in Parliament. Our MPs resigned from the Lok Sabha and sat on an indefinite fast in the national capital, intensifying the struggle for SCS to Andhra Pradesh. Through its unremitting fight for SCS, it was the YSRCP which exerted tremendous pressure on the Centre and tried to create a situation which made SCS quite inevitable.

Instead of extending support to the cause of SCS which we had taken up, Chandrababu Naidu, tried to bury the issue for four long years. He settled for a special package to further his own selfish ends, mortgaging the interests of the state. With elections around the corner, he made a U-turn once again when it became inevitable, trying to counter the seething anger of the people of the State against him. Making secret pacts and indulging in opportunistic politics, his party moved a no-trust vote against the NDA government, in name, clearly a token effort. In doing so, Chandrababu Naidu diluted the hopes and aspirations of five crore citizens of Andhra Pradesh.

The most disturbing fact was that not a single party spoke about the importance of SCS to Andhra Pradesh, or about the injustice done to the state. I shared my anguish and pain with mediapersons, as I began my Padayatra today.

Unemployed youth preparing for competitive exams met me near JNTU today and described how they were betrayed by Chandrababu Naidu‘s promises. They were hopeful that competitive exams would be held and they would soon find employment. With this hope, they have been preparing over the past four years, spending thousands of rupees on coaching centres. In the end, all their efforts and hopes proved to be fruitless. APPSC appeared to exist only in name. Apart from the state not getting SCS, the future seemed bleak with no prospects of employment in sight, they said.

Durga Bhavani said that her name had been registered under girl child protection scheme. “I am 20 years old now and the money has still not been given to me,“ she complained. She showed me the certificate as proof of her statement. Governments and schemes may change, but it is unforgivable to cheat girls and women folk in this manner.

I took part in an interaction with fishermen and recalled the contribution of the great leader of the community, Malladi Satyalingam Naicker. Unless they go out for fishing, these poor fishermen cannot earn their livelihood. And even when they do, they are left to the mercy of middlemen. What compounds their problem making things difficult for them is the fact that these middlemen enjoy the backing of the government, which should actually have been supporting the fishermen community.

As they poured out their woes to me and narrated their many problems, my heart was overcome with sorrow. My resolve to work for their betterment got strengthened even further.

Read: AP Deserves A Leader Who Stands By His Word: YSRCP

I have a question for the chief minister—you proclaimed that you were waging a war against the Centre and PM Modi. The yellow media announced that you were mustering the support of various parties to back you. Whatever happened to this war? Has a single party raised the question of injustice to Andhra Pradesh? Did any party speak about SCS to Andhra Pradesh? Is this not abject failure on your part? If your MPs had also submitted their resignations along with our Lok Sabha members, it would have become the focus of national attention and the Centre would have been forced to climb down. Is this not true?