90 rivers in East Godavari are affected by TDP: YS Jagan

YS Jagan thanked the thousands of people who joined him in the padayatra while many met him to pour out their grievances.

In Jaggampeta constituency, local public told me that in the last four years, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu did not not fulfil any of his election promises, while, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders continue to exploit all the natural resources, YS Jagan said. The TDP leaders have exploited all the resources like sand, cement, alcohol, electricity and coal, he said. They did not even spare temple lands and ornaments inside the temples, he added. "Almost 90 rivers in the district are affected by the TDP sand mafia's smuggling practices," he remarked.

In East Godavari district, areas surrounding Jaggampeta and Pithapuram have a lifeline in the form of Aleshwaram reservoir, which is capable of providing irrigation waters to 60,000 acres of farmland. But, not even 50,000 acres receive irrigation waters today, in Chandrababu's rule. In February 2009, former Chief Minister, late Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy initiated modernization work for the project. But, after his unfortunate death, not even 40 per cent of the work has been completed till now, YS Jagan observed.

In the last four years of Chandrababu rule, Polavaram project work has made zero progress. If the project was already completed, the water would not have been diverted to Vizag for industrial purpose, instead, the water would lead this region into prosperity.

The Polavaram project after being inaugurated by former Chief Minister, late Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy (DR YSR), was initiated and constructed on a brisk pace during his regime. But, in Chandrababu's rule, the project work is moving at a snail's speed, he said.

YS Jagan remarked that the project is a primary source of money-making and corruption for Chandrababu. "Chandrababu is good at claiming credit for others' work. During Rajanna Rajyam, the Polavaram left and right canals have been completed. But, Chandrababu claimed that he had completed 56% of the project work," the Leader of Opposition observed.

Dr YSR completed the Pushkara lift irrigation project with 13 lifts across eight constituencies in the district, serving around 1.5 lakh acres. Farmers in this region would have gotten benefitted from Pushkara lift irrigation project, had Chandrababu built just one more lift in the last 4 years.

In Gokavaram mandal, Chandrababu promised in 2014 to bring Aleru project waters through pumps, but, he had not addressed the issue in more than four and half years, farmers said. Chandrababu promised to offer 9 hours of non stop electricity for borewells, but he failed to keep the promise. Last year, the farmers had to launch a protest in front of sub-stations, he said.

Launching a scathing attack on Chandrababu for not providing Minimum Support Price (MSP) for rice crops, YS Jagan said that the TDP government had completely failed to deliver on its 2014 election promises. "I spoke to a few farmers, who explained their sorry state in the last four years. The government did not provide the minimum support price (MSP) for the rice crop. Farmers of this region, who are in distress, informed me that the rice crop is hardly given a price of Rs 1,130 by the brokers, while the MSP is Rs 1,550," YS Jagan said. The sorry state extends to the Sago farmers also, he added.

The sugarcane crop is hardly given a support price of Rs 2800 per quintal, while in Uttar Pradesh, the government is providing Rs 3,450 for sugarcane farmers, he asserted. Around Rs 1200 is charged only for cutting and transportation of the crop, the YSRCP Chief said.

In the four years of Chandrababu rule, not even a single crop was given MSP, he said. The reason lies in the fact that Chandrababu is the leader of the brokers. Chandrababu's Heritage company purchases crops for lessser price from farmers and sells its products for 3-4 times the price, said.

"Chandrababu, in his election promises, said he would develop the Jaggampet Community Health Centre into an Area hospital. Out of the hospital's 30 bed capacity, only 15 beds are available. Lack of an X-ray, a lab technician and ambulances are creating difficulties for the patients," the Leader of Opposition said. Dr YSR sanctioned a Degree College in Jaggampeta, but not even a building has been constructed in the last four years of Chandrababu rule.

TDP's website has removed its 2014 election manifesto, YS Jagan remarked. When various communities asked Chandrababu about implementation of his poll promises, he insults and humiliates them, he said. Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham was deliberately booked under cases, in order to supress their fight, YS Jagan added. The Chief Minister promised to include fishermen under STs and Nayee Brahmins were promised minimum wages, but he fulfilled neither of them, he added.

YS Jagan clarified to the Kapu community members that he would do everything possible within the 50% reservation limit under the purview of the State government, and, unlike Chandrababu, he would not make false and impossible promises.

Chandrababu promised impossible things like including fishermen and Rajakas into STs and Kapus into BCs, he said.

The Janma Bhoomi Committees demand money even for ration, pension, houses and toilets, he said. The AP CM promised to build a house for every poor man in the state—"How many houses has he built till date?" he asked. In Dr. YSR's regime, 18600 houses were built in this constituency, but not even a single house has been built in the last four years, YS Jagan said. It is laughable that Chandrababu, who had promised to build 20 lakh houses in 2014, is now pledging to construct 19 lakh houses in the remaining 6 months.

The YSRCP Chief told the massive public gathering that Chandrababu had promised to give Rs 2,000 to every household without employment. It had been 48 months since he had come to power yet no household had got that amount. So the government owed Rs Rs 96,000 to every household in the state, he said and called upon all the unemployed youth to question the TDP chief about it.

YS Jagan pointed that the women's self-help groups were cheated and were not given loan waivers. During Rajanna Rajyam, farmers availed interest free loans from the banks, but, in Chandrababu's rule, the farmer loans are completely ignored, he said.

In 2014, Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu vowed to ban all liquor shops in the state, but, after four years years of his rule, he has ensured that every village had a liquor shop, YS Jagan said. Women in this constituency had a common grievance on the mushrooming of belt shops and complained that liquor addiction was destroying the lives of youth, he added.

After I promised to increase wages to VRAs, Anganwadis and Home guards, Chandrababu nominally increased the salaries, not even matching those of Telangana, he said.

Chandrababu showed us dreams of a capital similar to Singapore, Polavaram project, iconic tower, iconic bridge, silicon valley, 100-floor buildings, bullet train, Hyperloop, Microsoft office and 40 lakh jobs, he said. The government failed to fulfil every single promise it made, he added.

If YSRCP comes to power, the Arogyasri scheme, which saved many lives during Rajanna Rajyam, will be reinstated along with the 108 ambulances which had saved many lives under YSR rule, he pointed out. The 108 vehicles used to reach the patient within 20 minutes of intimation, he said. Rajanna Rajyam had an ambulance per mandal while today, not even a single ambulance is available per constituency, he remarked.

In Chandrababu's rule, schools and colleges are being closed in the name of rationalization, whilst children are not provided with books and uniforms, even after more than two months into the academic year, he observed.

YS Jagan informed that in the neighbouring states like Karnataka and Telangana, fuel prices were lesser by Rs 6-7. The YSRCP Chief added that one need not be surprised if TDP promises one kilogram of gold and a Benz car to every household in the state during the next elections. The Leader of Opposition pointed out that earlier every house was paying electricity charges between Rs 50-100 while now the charges have gone up to Rs 500-1000 per house. He observed that over the last four years the AP CM had hiked the electricity tariff three times.

Back in 2014, Babu promised to waive farm loans, instead, he has burdened the state government with a loan of Rs 87,600 crores, he said. Bank loan notices continue to harass farmers and the women’s co-operative societies, he observed.

YS Jagan promised to increase the pension amounts to senior citizens in the state. To all senior citizens of age of over 60, pension of Rs 2,000 will be provided every month, he promised. Single women, aged above 45, will be given a pension of Rs 2,000 in Rajanna Rajyam, he added.