Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP President Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday slammed the Chandrababu Naidu government for what he called its gross failures in handling agriculture, education, and healthcare, besides misusing police to foist false cases against political adversaries.
Addressing a press conference, Reddy listed the ‘failures’ of the government while highlighting the plight of farmers, students and employees. He alleged that the ruling coalition is implicating political adversaries in false cases as the state is running under the “Red Book constitution”.
The former CM was referring to the Red Book carried by TDP leader Nara Lokesh during the election campaign last year. Lokesh had claimed that it has the names of those who have to pay for their ‘misdeeds’ during the YSRCP rule once the TDP-led NDA comes to power.
YS Jagan accused the government of targeting political adversaries by falsely implicating them in the Tirupati laddu and Parakamani theft cases. He also alleged that the government has been resorting to nepotism, leaving all sections of people in the lurch.
The former CM claimed that YSRCP’s campaign against the privatisation of medical colleges got a massive public response. One crore signatures collected during the campaign would be submitted along with the representation to the Governor on December 16.
He said the healthcare services to the poor under the Aarogyasri scheme have been hit as the government has not cleared the dues to hospitals. The YSRCP chief claimed that the negligence of the coalition government in the education sector is glaring, with 29 students dying due to consuming contaminated water and food, while many students were hospitalised due to unhygienic conditions.
Students are now carrying lunch boxes due to the poor quality of food under the midday meal scheme. The reforms brought in by the YSRCP government were negated, and the fee reimbursement dues are mounting, resulting in agony among students, he said.
Reddy said that farmers are in distress as they are not getting MSP for any crop and are being cheated at every step. "On one hand, they are not getting input subsidy, while on the other, there is no crop insurance and capital support. During the YSRCP term, they were getting all benefits on time, and RBKs served them well and the contrast gives the Save AP slogan full credence,” he said.,” he said.
He alleged that Chandrababu Naidu has been misusing all the institutions and trying to close down all the cases against him (CM Naidu) by mounting pressure on the officers who had complained against him to withdraw their statements. He claimed that corruption has been rampant under the coalition government.
The government has been foisting false cases against political adversaries with manufactured evidence and false cases. Pinnelli brothers (former YSRCP MLA Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy and his brother Venkatarami Reddy) were booked on a false case, though the SP himself has categorically said that the murder case was due to group rivalry among TDP cadre.
Stating that there was no liquor scam during the YSRCP rule, YS Jagan said the government was resorting to arrests of YSRCP leaders on false allegations. He reiterated that under the coalition government, spurious liquor units have sprouted across the state with numerous ‘belt shops’, but YSRCP leaders and close associates are being booked.
From Jogi Ramesh to Mithun Reddy, Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy, Krishna Mohan Reddy, Dhanunjay Reddy, Ballaji Govindappa, the list runs long, he said. “Chandrababu himself is involved in a liquor scam, and he is on bail on other serious cases, and he is resorting to arm-twisting tactics, which is a clear violation of bail conditions,” he said.
On the Tirupati laddu issue, he said there is a robust mechanism in place to check the quality of ghee, but Chandrababu Naidu has spun a false story about the adulterated ghee being used for prasadam and levelled false allegations against YV Subba Reddy, though not an iota of evidence was available.
The Parakamani case is also being blown out by the CM and his publicity machinery, but the fact remains that Parakamani was modernised with high-tech gadgets by the YSRCP government, and it was due to the high-resolution cameras and tight vigil that the theft issue came to light, he said.
The former CM pointed out that the person involved in the case had given his assets to the Tirumala temple as atonement. The recent theft at Simhachalam temple was hushed up with the accused being given a station bail, which shows the level of governance. When there has been a complaint of harassment against the PA of a minister by a woman employee, no action was taken, he said.