Praja Sankalpa Yatra, Day 45 Diary: Chandrababu Responsible For Anantapur’s Plight 

Balijapalli, Anantapur District:

The thought that my Yatra in Anantapur district was coming to an end flashed in my mind. The Yatra covered nine assembly constituencies and these 24 days winged by. I shall forever cherish the love and affection that the people of this district have showered on me.

But I am deeply pained by the plight of the people of this district. Countless households in Anantapur district cannot even afford a most Spartan form of the three square meals that will barely see them through the day. I found that a vast majority of the women who came to meet me did not have a gold necklace around their necks. Many looked old, emaciated and wrinkled even at a young age of 35 and 40. Even women with 15-20-acre landholding were in a pitiable condition. Who else, but Chandrababu is responsible for their plight? He had duped the women and the farmers in the name of a loan waiver.

Many families were left in the lurch due to the Government’s non-payment of at least the loan interest. Many others were forced to migrate as the employment guarantee scheme was most heartlessly watered down. Many others have taken to begging in neighbouring states like Kerala. The government had taken away 7,000 acres from the farmers ostensibly to set up a solar power plant in NP Kunta. Among the lands taken away are fertile lands under the command area of Veligallu and Pedaballi reservoirs. Even the assigned lands belonging to the poor were taken away.

But of this alienated land, only 1,250 acres are being used at the rate of five acres per one mega watt. Is is justifiable to take away fertile land in a district in which there is a stark paucity of arable land? The compensation given is meager and over a 1,000 families haven’t yet received even this pittance. There’s no sight of the promised jobs either.

Chandrababu never tires of telling everyone how much he loves this district because of the election windfall here. He always says that Anantapur gets top priority in every scheme. But during the course of my padayatra I learnt on a first-hand basis that he has done precious little for the district. He had only duped the people no end. No village has a viable drinking water facility. Though Handri-Neeva Phase 1 was completed five years ago, there is no water for the crops. Even octagenarians are denied pensions. There is no livelihood and no remunerative price for whatever little crop that is harvested. On every count, Anantapur has been cheated every which way. Anantapur is a text book case to understand the difference between the governance of my late father and that of Chandrababu Naidu.

While Chandrababu had infamously laid a foundation stone twice for Handri-Neeva, but spent just Rs 13 crore, my late father had spent over Rs 6,000 crore and completed 80 percent of the works. Chandrababu ran after tokenisms like rain guns and soak pits, while my father had put in place permanent measures like project construction to fight the perennial drought that haunts the district. While Chandrababu duped women and farmers in the name of loan waiver, my father had turned farming into a celebration. He had strengthened the DWCRA groups. It is not for nothing that my late father is an epitome of credibility and Chandrababu is an infamous example of duplicity, double-speak and duping.

I have a straight question for Chandrababu Naidu. Can you confidently spell out what you have done for the district that supported you to the hilt? Did you not dupe it? Why are you oblivious to the plight of the people? Why did you not try to ascertain the facts at the grassroots level? Aren’t you responsible for Anantapur’s present plight?