Former Union Minister and Congress veteran Chinta Mohan on Thursday demanded Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Telugu Desam Party national president N. Chandrababu Naidu to extend their unconditional support to making Tirupati the capital of the State.
Addressing a press conference in Kuppam, Mr. Chinta Mohan said that though both leaders were from the backward Rayalaseema region, they never thought of safeguarding the interests of farmers, students, unemployed youth, and Dalits in the region. “Only by making Tirupati the capital city of Andhra Pradesh, the Rayalaseema region would prosper,” the Congress leader said.
Mr. Chinta Mohan alleged that Mr. Jagan’s government had turned intolerably corrupt, looting public wealth to the tune of several lakhs of crores. “The law and order situation has become a farce in the State, while the Dalits and other weaker sections are living under fear of false cases being foisted on them and being subjected to harassment, as their voice is being suppressed by the ruthless YSRCP government,” he said.
Though Mr. Naidu has been elected as MLA from Kuppam for the last three and a half decades, the constituency has continued to languish in backwardness, he alleged. “It is a big shame for Mr. Naidu to mortgage the self-respect of Telugu people by vying for secret deals with the Bharatiya Janata Party in New Delhi. This undermines late N.T. Rama Rao’s popular slogan of Telugu self-respect,” Mr. Chinta Mohan said.
The former MP deplored that Dalits were experiencing a harrowing time under the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre with no unemployment opportunities and economic empowerment. Ridiculing the claim of the BJP that it would win 370 Lok Sabha seats in the ensuing elections, Mr. Chinta Mohan said that the number would not cross 170, and the BJP would face a total washout in the South.
