North Andhra suffered due to 'political domination by outsiders', says BSP leader

Visakhapatnam: Bahujan Samaj Party’s Andhra Pradesh state coordinator and former DGP Dr J. Purnachandra Rao on Wednesday alleged that north Andhra suffered due to "political domination by outsiders".

At a zonal meeting of the BSP here, he vowed to fight for the cause of the region, saying it suffered damage due to lack of local representation in politics.

He lashed out at the apathy of the political parties that ruled the state for long, and left Uttarandhra (north Andhra) high and dry, despite the region being endowed with excellent natural resources and human capital.

The BSP leader alleged that since Independence, the region has been languishing in every field, and cursed with the continuous political representation by settlers.

"Gifted with 350-km odd coastline, verdant forests and hill regions, fertile lands, and copious rainfall, besides amicable and hardworking people, the region has not got its due. For example, in the last four decades, all the members of the Vizag Parliament constituency were imported, and they failed to meet the expectations of the people, owing to a lack of emotional connect with the region. Similarly, several MLAs are settlers," he said.

Purnanchandra Rao said that the most recent systematic destruction and plunder of the region by the YSRCP’s de facto rulers of the region only worsened the situation.

"Aggravating the situation are the drug menace, pollution and lack of education, medical and logistics infrastructure in the Agency region," he said.

He stated that the region has many unsolved issues that require commitment and sincerity, "both grossly absent among leaders".

"The privatisation of the steel plant, delay in realization of the railway zone, expansion and development of ports, pollution, fishermen’s issues, drug menace, and negligence of irrigation projects, to name a few. We demand that all these be addressed by the alliance government, on a war footing.”

He demanded the state government to conduct the BC caste census and honour all promises made to backward classes during the elections.

He also criticised the "double standards" of the TDP-led alliance government, for not embarking on the crucial backward class caste census.

"It is ridiculous when the TDP promises 34 per cent seats in local bodies, and 33 per cent seats in the Legislative Assembly, for BCs, without caste census. This is impossible to implement and only seems like an eyewash and a false promise. We find it shocking that the skill census has taken the place of the caste census which has been in demand for decades. We demand that the government launch the BC caste census and keep all its promises for BCs, SCs, STs, and minorities," he added.