Chandrababu Naidu shedding crocodile tears for Dalits: YSRCP

Amaravati: Vemuru YSRCP MLA Merugu Nagarjuna said that Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu was shedding crocodile tears for Dalits.

Speaking to the media here on Thursday, the MLA said the sincerity of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy can be seen from the fact that he has appointed a Dalit woman as home minister and also five other ministers from weaker sections. He said Naidu has no right to speak for Dalits as atrocities were committed against them during his term in Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore districts and in his native Chittoor district, but Naidu had never bothered about them.

The MLA alleged that Naidu was a Dalit-hater as can be seen from his statement, "Would anyone be willing to be born into a Dalit family." He said such was Naidu's attitude towards the Dalits. "Dalits lived in fear during his rule and as per the National Crime Records Bureau, the state stood in the fourth place in atrocities against the weaker sections," during his tenure.

He said social boycott of Dalits took place during Naidu's rule and it was ridiculous that he was showering insincere love towards them for the past few days.

He said 364 Dalits were ostracised during Naidu regime in East Godavari district when they went to install the statue of Ambedkar but Naidu had not done anything about it. A book can be written about the atrocities committed against the Dalits during the Naidu regime, he said. "Naidu kept quiet when a Dalit woman was disrobed on the streets in Visakhapatnam district."