The Andhra Pradesh Pratyeka Hoda Sadhana Samithi president Chalasani Srinivasa Rao has alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to keep his promises to the State after bifurcation and is now invoking the name of revolutionary freedom fighter Alluri Sitharama Raju to set foot in Andhra Pradesh.
Addressing the media here on Sunday, Mr. Srinivasa Rao said the samithi was not against the Prime Minister’s visit to Bhimavaram, to participate in the 125th birth anniversary of the revolutionary leader who had fought against the British to protect the interests of the tribal people of the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam district. He said that after trying to claim the legacy of freedom fighters like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was a Congressman all his life, Bhagat Singh and others, the BJP was now trying to own up the ‘Manyam Veerudu’.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao said steps were not being taken for the operationalisation of Visakhapatnam Railway Zone and the special package announced to the backward districts of North Andhra and Rayalaseema has not been honoured. The Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh was being described as a ‘closed chapter’. He described the BJP leaders as ‘betrayers of AP’.
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) was established after 32 persons had sacrificed their lives for the plant. But, now the BJP was thinking of VSP as a ‘tradable commodity’. He sought that all political parties should fight unitedly for protecting VSP. He said: “We would have been happy if a Telugu man was made the President of India but Mr. Venkaiah Naidu is trapped in a ‘golden cage’. We will not keep quiet if the Prime Minister makes any political comments in Bhimavaram.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao asked the BJP leader G.V.L. Narasimha Rao to pull up the party leadership on the injustice done in the allocation of funds for the Metro Rail in Visakhapatnam city. While ₹19,500 crore was sanctioned to the Gujarat Metro, Vizag Metro was allocated only ₹1 lakh.
He also found fault with the BJP leadership for extending an invitation to actor Chiranjeevi, while ignoring his brother and Jana Sena Party (JSP) founder Pawan Kalyan. He called upon Mr. Pawan Kalyan to break his alliance with the BJP and strive to protect the interests of Andhra Pradesh.
Calling upon Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to lead the struggle against the injustice being done to Andhra Pradesh, he said that the TDP, JSP, CPI(M) and CPI would support it. He appealed to the YSR Congress Party government to take a firm assurance from the BJP leadership before extending support to its Presidential nominee.
