*Jagananna colonies targeted to divert attention from Fuel Crisis*

Tadepalli, April 30: Former Minister Jogi Ramesh stated that the attacks on Jagananna colonies are a calculated political diversion to cover up the artificial fuel crisis created under the coalition government. Addressing the media at the party central office, he said that as people across Andhra Pradesh are forced to stand in long queues for petrol and diesel, the government has failed to provide answers and instead is using sections of the media to run false campaigns against the housing programme implemented during YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s tenure.

He said the Jagananna housing initiative is one of the largest welfare programmes in the country, under which over 31 lakh women were given house site pattas, benefiting nearly 1.2 crore people, and 17,005 colonies were developed across the state. Entire villages have taken shape through these colonies, providing dignity and security to poor families. He challenged critics to visit any village and verify the ground reality instead of spreading misinformation.

Jogi Ramesh questioned the coalition government’s performance, asking whether even a single cent of land has been distributed to the poor or a single new colony has been developed in the last two years. He pointed out that the government has not even provided basic infrastructure like roads and amenities in the already established Jagananna colonies, while simultaneously attempting to discredit them through false narratives. He added that under YSRCP, even TIDCO houses were registered at nominal costs, ensuring ownership for the poor instead of pushing them into debt.

He asserted that the attempt to malign Jagananna colonies is a deliberate effort to shift focus from governance failures, particularly the fuel crisis. He said the scale and impact of the housing programme cannot be erased through propaganda, and the people of the state are clearly seeing through these diversionary tactics.