YSRC MP terms Naidu anti-poor', seeks Amaravati as public capital'

 VIJAYAWADA: YSR Congress MP Nandigam Suresh welcomed the AP High Court’s verdict allowing the government to allot housing sites to the poor in Amaravati, stating that Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam was discriminating against the poor, “who are the fuel of the society”.

He accused Chandrababu Naidu and his coterie of benefitting in Amaravati, at a press meet on Saturday, adding that the “verdict is a big slap to TD leaders who are creating obstacles”.

MP Suresh accused Chandrababu Naidu’s cohort of hindering Jagan Mohan Reddy’s plan to allot 50,000 housing sites in Amaravati, claiming that he was anti-poor from the start, due to which he made Amaravati the capital and decided to keep the poor away from the region.

He said that the then TD government allotted plots to farmers in graveyards, streams, bends and ‘poramboku’ lands, while allotting plots in valuable areas to people of his community.

Claiming that the poor were treated inhumanely despite pooling their lands for the capital, he accused the TD of having threatened farmers of snatching their lands if they did not pool them for the new capital. “Hence, poor farmers surrendered their lands to whoever came up with the price, while others handed them over to the government,” he said.

The MP also raked up the issue of a statue installation, claiming that while Chandrababu Naidu had announced the installation of a statue of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, he selected a remote location amid trees and swamps. He contrasted it to the YSR Congress’s approach, stating that Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy was installing the leader’s statue in the heart of Vijayawada, emphasising their commitment to the SC/ST/BC and minority communities.

MP Suresh said that Chief Minister Jagan has initiated the allotment of houses to around 50,000 poor families. Saying that there should be access for poor people in Amaravati, he claimed that the capital should be a ‘public capital’ and not a capital where real estate can be done according to Chandrababu's idea.

He claimed that TD and Chandrababu Naidu had created obstacles by stating that allowing the poor in Amaravati would “turn the capital into a cesspit”, claiming that the Opposition party conspired to do away with SCs, STs, BCs and minorities in the capital.