AP turned unsafe for women under Naidu’s rule

Nellore, Dec 22: YSR Congress Party Women’s Wing State Working President Kakani Poojitha strongly condemned the deteriorating law-and-order situation in Andhra Pradesh, that the coalition government has turned the state into an unsafe place for women. Speaking to the media at the YSRCP party office in Nellore, she said women across the state are living in fear, with crimes occurring every day in every locality, reflecting a complete collapse of public safety under the last 18 months of coalition rule.

The government misusing the police machinery to suppress political opponents instead of protecting citizens, questioning whether the police now exist to ensure public safety or to intimidate the opposition. Referring to the brutal sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in Mangalagiri, she said such incidents expose the grim reality behind the government’s hollow claims. She pointed out that even in the constituency represented by the Chief Minister’s son, crimes against minors are not being prevented, and action is taken only after public outrage, not through preventive policing.

Contrasting the present situation with the previous YSRCP government, she recalled that under Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, women’s safety was prioritised through initiatives like the Disha App, Disha police stations, dedicated women police personnel, and rapid emergency response systems that ensured police reached victims within minutes. Today, these systems have either vanished or become non-functional, leaving women without institutional support.

She further stated that after dismantling the volunteer and secretariat systems, crimes against women have increased, as there is no longer a grassroots mechanism to respond quickly to distress. Quoting the Union Government’s own warning, she noted that Andhra Pradesh’s emergency call response time has deteriorated to 25.5 minutes, compared to 5.8 minutes in Chandigarh, and questioned whether the government will act only after lives are lost. She said even a letter written by Union Home Minister Amit Shah had flagged the alarming law-and-order situation in the state, yet the coalition government failed to respond.

She criticised Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for confining himself to rhetoric on women’s safety without delivering results, and questioned Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on the unfulfilled promises he made before elections regarding women’s protection. She also accused the government of prioritising privatisation, liquor, belt shops, and permit rooms over public safety and governance, warning that the state is being systematically dismantled in the name of reforms.

Stating that Andhra Pradesh now ranks second in crimes against women, she called it a shameful “achievement” of the coalition government. Citing incidents where even women police officers were attacked, she questioned whether anyone in the state is truly safe today. Kakani Poojitha demanded that the Chief Minister abandon political vendetta, stop using the police to harass opponents, and immediately focus on restoring law and order and ensuring real, on-ground protection for women across Andhra Pradesh.