Holding Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu responsible for the killing of MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao, film actor and Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan on Monday said it took four and a half years for the Chief Minister to include a tribal member in the Cabinet.
“The Chief Minister seems to be under the impression that he compensated for the killing of Sarveswara Rao by offering Cabinet berth to Kidari Sravan. Even now, he is not ready to look into the root cause of the killing,” he told a public meet here as part of his district tour.
“Instead of protecting the environment and respecting the sentiments of the tribal people, the government encouraged bauxite mining. It led to the killing of a sitting MLA.” The Cabinet berth would not compensate the loss. “We will impose a ban on bauxite mining and protect the rights of the tribal people,” he said.
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Accusing the State government of treating the Anganwadi and the Asha workers as the TDP workforce, Mr. Pawan said there was an immediate need for a special bank for the members of the self-help groups, who were facing several troubles in accessing loans. “We are keen on addressing the problems of women and the fisherfolk. Special focus will be made on constructing adequate number of cold storages to stock the fish,” he said.
Referring to the Special Category Status, he said he was the first to speak against the Centre at a meeting here, following the announcement of the special package. “I am not a leader of double speak like Mr. Naidu. I am committed to protecting the rights of the people and their self-respect.”
Earlier in the day, activists of the JSP entered into an argument with the officials of the Kakinada Municipal Corporation, as the latter removed the flexis they arranged welcoming Mr. Pawan into the city. As the municipal workers tried to cart the flexis into the dumping place, the workers stopped the vehicle and made the municipal workers rearrange the banners and the flexis intact.
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