Communist Party of India(Marxist) State secretary V. Srinivasa Rao has found fault with the ruling YSR Congress Party, and the Opposition Telugu Desam Party and the Jana Sena Party for failing to condemn the attacks and rape of women in Manipur, and for ‘sacrificing’ the interests of Andhra Pradesh at the feet of the Centre.
Addressing a media conference here on Friday, Mr. Srinivasa Rao said that these three parties, which project themselves as championing the cause of women and the tribal people. have not even reacted to the rape of women in the strife-torn State. He said that the Jana Sena Party president K. Pawan Kalyan was making frequent trips to Delhi, and wondered what discussions he was holding with the BJP.
The CPI(M) State secretary said that Mr. Pawan Kalyan had stated that during his visit to Visakhapatnam nine months ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised him that justice would be done to Andhra Pradesh. He said that the the JSP president should inform the people as to what benefit the State had got during the last nine months. He wondered as to what was the use of the JSP chief making frequent trips to Delhi, when he could not raise the issues concerning the State, with the Centre, like privatisation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), operationalisation of the Visakhapatnam-headquartered South Coast Railway (S Co R) Zone, Central Tribal University, Polavaram project, Amaravati, special funds for the backward regions of North Andhra and Rayalaseema and funds for the Sujala Sravanthi project.
Tribal student
Mr. Srinivasa Rao said that the government has failed to appreciate a tribal student of Anantapur, who had successfully done her Ph. D in spite of her financial woes. The thrashing and urination on a tribal man in Ongole recently was an indication of casteism and communalism in the country under the BJP rule, he alleged.
‘Conduct special DSC’
He sought that if the Centre or the State government were interested in the welfare of the tribal people, a special DSC should be held in Manyam and Alluri Sitharama Raju districts to provide jobs to the innumerable youths, who had completed higher studies and were waiting for jobs. This demand of the CPI(M) has gone unheeded by the governments for a long time. He said that the State government has not even responded to the cancellation of G.O. no. 3 regarding tribal employees.
The CPI(M) leader said that there was no job security to women and volunteers in the State. He alleged that the State government was not even providing the minimum support price to the coffee farmers of Araku.
The party State secretariat member K. Lokanadham and district secretary M. Jaggunaidu were present.
