Jagan accuses Naidu of betrayal

Vows to fight tooth and nail

Visakhapatnam: Alleging that the Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is betraying the innocent tribals, the YSRCP founder president and leader of the opposition Y S Jaganmohan Reddy vowed to fight tooth and nail the State government’s proposed bauxite mining in the Agency area.

Addressing a public meeting in Chintapalli on Thursday, Jaganmohan Reddy said despite lakhs of tribals fighting against the proposed bauxite mining, the TDP government is turning a deaf ear and putting the sustenance of the tribals at risk.

“Chandrababu Naidu as the leader of the opposition fought against bauxite mining and even wrote letters to the governor to stall the project. But after assuming power, he released a GO for the same,” he said.

He questioned the interests of the State government in not constituting Tribal Advisory Committee (TAC), which mandates one-third of the members to be tribal MLAs. “Naidu fears that the majority of tribal MLAs belong to YSRC, he is avoiding formation of the TAC,” he added.

Launching a tirade of attack at the TDP government, Jagan accused it of betraying the tribals. “It was TDP government which tried to push bauxite mining through TAC in 2,000 and it is now blaming Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who always worked for the tribal welfare. The State government failed all to deliver on the promises, be it loan waiver, DWCRA groups, providing employment opportunities and doling out unemployment allowance,” he alleged. Speaking at the meeting, senior leader, V Vijaysai Reddy said that their party will always fight

for the rights of the tribals and their welfare. Araku MLA, K Sarveswara Rao, said the bauxite mining would severely pollute the Agency area and ruin the ecological balance.

Earlier, Jaganmohan Reddy received representations from the displaced farmers of the Logistics Hub in Anakapalli and said that the government has been looting poor people’s lands in the guise of development.