Former Union Minister and Congress Working Committee (CWC) special invitee Chinta Mohan on Saturday said instead of making Visakhapatnam as one of the three capitals, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy should give the Chief Minister post to someone from North Andhra if he was concerned about the region’s development.
Addressing a press conference at Tirupati on Saturday, Dr. Chinta Mohan deplored that since the formation of Andhra Pradesh, not even a single leader from the districts of Godavari or North Andhra was made the Chief Minister, despite the region’s immense contribution during the Independence struggle or during formation of the State. “Jagan should also immediately act to stop privatization of Visakha Steel Plant,” the Congress leader said.
The former Minister also made a strong case for making Tirupati as the State capital. Dr. Chinta Mohan said that N.G. Ranga mooted Tirupati as the State capital in 1953, but it was scuttled by Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, who made Kurnool as the capital.
Showing a copy of a letter from former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Dr. Chinta Mohan claimed that the former had positively responded to make Tirupati the capital of the State in 2013.
“The 17th Century Hindu saint, Pothuluri Veerabrahmendra Swami, a highly-revered seer in the Rayalaseema region, had also prophesied in his ‘Kala Gnanam’ work that Tirupati would be made a capital city,” Dr. Chinta Mohan said.
The former Minister said that Tirupati was connected with seven national highways, seven universities, two super-specialty hospitals, protected drinking water from Kandaleru reservoir, congenial climate, and above all the presence of world famous Hindu temple at Tirumala. Dr. Chinta Mohan said a vast land of more than one lakh acre is available to accommodate the capital city from Yerpedu to Rapur in Tirupati district.
Referring to former AICC president Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, Dr. Chinta Mohan said a new political thinking has dawned in the minds of the people, favoring the Congress Party. He felt that Mallikarjun Kharge would be the third AICC president from the SC community in the last seven decades.
The former Minister deplored that since 2014, the country has seen maternal and infant mortality rising, particularly among the women of the SC community. “Over 9,000 primary health centers and 40,000 sub-centers were closed all over the country in the last eight years,” Dr. Chinta Mohan alleged.
