Ministers, MLAs facing people's ire in north Andhra

VISAKHAPATNAM: YSRC ministers and MLAs are facing embarrassing situations in their respective constituencies in north Andhra during their mass contact programmes Gadapa Gadapaku Mana Prabutvam and Jagananna Suraksha Chakra. Even speaker Tammineni Sitaram has not been spared.

“So, you have remembered us after four years,” women at Kotta Talarivanipalem in Anakapalli district told industries minister Gudivada Amaranth when the latter laid the foundation stone for drainage works on Saturday. The women bombarded him with questions and tried to gherao him, but police stopped them.

Pathapatnam MLA Reddy Shanthi had a tough time when people expressed their
anger over the cancellation of a bridge sanctioned at an estimated budget of Rs
1 crore. Police intervened to bring the situation under control.

“Without police protection, YSRC MLAs cannot walk in public,” commented a
village elder.

Last week, Adivasis of Chintalapadu in Gummalakshmipuram told Kurupam MLA
and former deputy chief minister Pamula Pushpa Srivani not to enter their village, as she has done nothing for them. The MLA had to leave the place under police escort. Adivasis flung cow dung at flexi boards bearing her picture.

MLC Duvvada Srinivas had to run from the dais before a meeting started at the NTR Colony in Tekkali when irate people questioned why their monthly ration had been stopped.

Even speaker Tammineni Sitaram has attracted people’s ire, though he is not directly responsible for issues in his constituency. He had a bitter experience in Lakkapuram village within his home constituency Amadalavalasa, when people pulled him up for lack of drinking water, power connections and deletion of names from the pension list.

At Pudimadaka in Elamanchili, people hurled chappals at their MLA U.V. Ramanamurthy Raju (Kannababu) for not addressing their problems.

Agency areas too have not been free from resentment. Adivasis of the ASR district has voted for the YSRC in both the 2014 and 2019 elections. But two incidents involving Araku MLA Chetti Palguna indicate the anger the tribal people have against the ruling party. Recently, women hauled up the MLA in Teegalavalasa in Hukumpeta mandal demanding houses.

Some women caught Palguna by the collar, accusing him of grabbing 5.72 acres of land in Madamala village under Araku mandal.

On cancellation of the bridge, Reddy Shanti told this correspondent that as per policy, a bridge worth Rs 1 crore for a village having a population of 300 is impermissible. “We have sent a fresh proposal for smaller bridges, which is taking its time,’’ she told this correspondent.

Deputy Chief Minister Peedika Rajanna Dora said it is common for people to
ask for more. “I have done many things for people. But they still come with some proposals. We can never satisfy them,” Dora remarked.

“Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy expected these kinds of troubles for MLAs when he launched a mass contact programme. It is a chance for us to
rectify the shortfalls,” said a senior leader of YSRC in Visakhapatnam.

Another leader said sanctioned works are not being taken up by contractors, as they fear their pending bills will be kept pending. MLAs are getting penalised as a result, he remarked.