BJP holds rally against Jagan’s ‘corrupt rule’

Javadekar described the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) as family-dominated parties, and said both indulged in massive corruption and cheated the people with false promises over the years.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday called on the people to “put an end to the corrupt and destructive rule of chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government” in the 2024 assembly elections.

The Praja Agraha Sabha organised by BJP in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh against the YSRCP government on Tuesday. (ht photo)

Addressing the “Praja Agraha Sabha” (a meeting to express people’s anger), organised by the BJP state unit in Vijayawada, Javadekar described the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) as family-dominated parties, and said both indulged in massive corruption and cheated the people with false promises over the years.

“The people are witnessing a destructive rule of the YSRCP government. The chief minister has not fulfilled any of the promises he had made (in his 2019 election manifesto). What he is doing right now is renaming the Central government schemes and claiming them as his own by pasting his government stickers. The so-called Jagananna housing colonies are Narendra Modi colonies,” the former Union minister said.

He also accused the Jagan government of ruining the state’s economy. “Before elections, he had promised to implement total prohibition in the state, but in reality, he is running the government on the revenue obtained from liquor sales,” he said.

Javadekar pointed out that he had granted all the permissions to Polavaram major irrigation project on Godavari River when he was the Union environment and forest minister. “But the project is yet to be completed even after seven years,” he criticised.

About the Amaravati capital region, Javadekar reminded that it was during his term, he got the forest lands transferred to the capital. “But the capital city project is in limbo, and the TDP and YSRCP were indulging in blame game over the capital,” he criticised.

Alleging that corruption has reached its peak under the YSRCP regime, the BJP leader said, the ruling party leaders were making big money through smuggling of red sanders, referring to the latest Telugu movie Pushpa. He reminded that the Jagan government had disbanded a special investigation team constituted to probe into the red sanders smuggling.

“There are many leaders in Andhra Pradesh who are out on bail in connection with various cases. They would soon go to jail,” he warned.

Javadekar expressed regrets that there was no protection to the Hindu religious institutions in the Jagan regime. “While the Centre has taken up the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya in a big way, the Ram temple in Vizianagaram district was vandalised and a chariot of Lord Narasimha Swamy in Antarvedi in East Godavari district was burnt to ashes,” he alleged.

During the rally, state BJP president Somu Veerraju blamed the TDP and YSRCP governments for the lack of development in Andhra Pradesh. He claimed that the BJP is the only party capable of pulling down the corrupt Jagan government. “We are confident of forming the next government in the state,” he said.

Rajya Sabha member and BJP leader G V L Narasimha Rao said the TDP had no future in Andhra Pradesh and the YSRCP failed miserably to govern the state. He alleged that the Jagan government was diverting all the funds granted by the Centre to unproductive schemes. BJP leaders Y S Chowdary, C M Ramesh, Daggubati Purandeshwari, Kanna Lakshminarayana and others participated in the rally.

Reacting to the BJP leaders’ allegations in the rally, senior YSRC leader and minister for municipal administration Botsa Satyanarayana said the BJP had hardly any existence in the state, and the meeting was only trying to prove its identity.

“It appears the BJP leaders have woken up just now, two and a half years after we formed the government. If there are any lapses on our part, let them point out, instead of making wild allegations,” he said.

Senior TDP leader and lawmaker Payyavula Kesav also hit back, saying that the BJP rally was only to mislead the people. “The BJP leaders in AP are working under the direction of Jagan Mohan Reddy. In the last two and a half years, they have not responded to any of the atrocities being perpetrated by the Jagan government against the people in general and TDP in particular,” he alleged.

He demanded that the Central agencies should probe into the witch-hunt of political rivals in the hands of the Jagan government.