Praja Sankalpa Yatra Diary, Day 98: Chandrababu, Isn’t Your Stance A Let Down When People Are Seeking SCS?

Katurivaripalem, Prakasam district: An old man, Ragipindi Chenchu Reddy, who appeared to walk with great difficulty, approached me and placed a small book in my hands. It was a book, he said, of poems and songs which he had written about my father the late Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy. He recited a few poems from the book to me. I could see that the reverence and affection he had for my father sprang from the depths of his heart. I was truly overwhelmed.

Read: Chandrababu Lacks Leadership Qualities: YS Jagan

This octagenarian, told me, “From my earliest days, I have been a member of the Communist party. However, in my entire life I have not come across a leader like your father, the late Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy. No other public figure in living memory served the people with such dedication as he did. If communism represents an egalitarian society, then I have not seen a greater communist who strove for social justice, than him. I became his follower because of this devotion with which he served the people. I write songs and poems in his praise and recite them to the people.” The affection and deep regard he had for my father, touched me. Here was a living example of how a leader, who dedicates his life to the service of the people, lives in the hearts of the masses for all time to come.

Avulayya of Lingamgunta told me with tears in his eyes, that he had no resources to educate his meritorious, hardworking daughter. We belong to the most deprived SC community. My daughter studied in a government school till her intermediate course. She is now pursuing her B.Tech course. In the first year, she secured 89% marks. However, she has not been getting any fee reimbursement. When we approached the authorities at Amaravati, we were asked to apply through the Telangana website. When we asked officials in Hyderabad, they said that the details had not been sent through a link. Any number of trips to Amaravati proved to be fruitless. It has been two years now. We cannot afford to pay Rs.70,000 and educate our daughter. When we tried to withdraw her admission and stop her from studying any further, the college authorities say that unless we clear the dues, certificates would not be returned. We can neither afford to educate her, nor do we have the heart to pull her out of the college. This is the situation in which we find ourselves trapped.” When he expressed his anguish at his inability to educate his daughters, I felt very pained. It was clear that this government did not have the sincerity to implement the fee reimbursement scheme and it was futile to expect justice on this count from the TDP regime. They will try and scrap the fee reimbursement scheme altogether, on one pretext or the other.

Udumala Govindayya of Chinnarikatla met me along the way and told me that he had planted 150 lime saplings before 2004, when Chandrababu Naidu was at the helm of affairs. The borewell he got drilled, went dry and soon the plants withered. He suffered a loss of Rs. 1.50 lakhs. When Chandrababu ceased to be the CM, fortune smiled on me and agriculture proved to be a profitable occupation. By 2014, when Chandrababu returned to power, I had 200 lime trees. Borewells were yielding water and everything was working out well. To my misfortune, Chandrababu Naidu became our chief minister again and once again, my borewells went dry. The trees soon wilted and I suffered a loss of Rs. 4 lakhs.

“Chandrababu Naidu and drought are like conjoined twins. They are inseparable.” I could see how anguished he felt. On the one hand, farmers felt betrayed by the ruling TDP and on the other, nature sometimes was not kind to them. They found themselves caught in a pincer.

Read: Chandrababu Govt. Neglected Farmers Completely: YS Jagan

The chief minister has been going to great lengths to try to portray fallacies as truths, while taking great effort to mask reality. In fact, his elaborate attempts are amusing and at the same time, how flippant he is being about a grave crisis. He has been trying to depict Andhra Pradesh as a state with growing per capita income and GSDP, contrary to facts. At stake holders conventions and meets, he has been making tall claims such as AP getting investments of one lakh crores. One does not know who the chief minister is trying to deceive? I have a question for the chief minister—In three stakeholders’ meets, you said that AP had received 20 lakh crores of investments. Can you at least reveal the expenditure on these conferences and conventions? Can you disclose the amount spent on your overseas trips in chartered flights over the past four years? You have been claiming that lakhs of jobs and employment opportunities have been created. With your hand on your heart, can you swear that at least 10,000 jobs have been created? Is it not true that employees are scared of losing the jobs they now have? After listening to your bragging, won’t the Centre and people elsewhere feel that special category status is not really required for Andhra Pradesh? Are you not betraying the people of the state when you make such false claims which run contrary to reality on the ground, at a time when people are agitating for Special Category Status?