Jagan, Pawan don’t care for cyclone-hit: Naidu

Srikakulam: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday targeted the YSRCP, Jana Sena and the BJP for not rising to the occasion when people in the district were going through an unremitting agony after the Titli cyclone scythed through Srikakulam district recently.

Addressing a meeting of victims of the cyclone at Palasa in the district where he distributed cyclone relief cheques to them, the Chief Minister wondered what YSRC chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy was doing when the people were suffering.

"He was in neighbouring Vizianagaram district when the cyclone lashed the district. But he did not bother to visit them. Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, though he visited them, ignored his follow-up work of writing to the Centre, confronting it why it was not coming forward to help the victims. The BJP, for its part, has not done anything for the victims," he said.

Naidu, questioning the priorities of the YSRCP, disapproved of its leaders lodging a protest with the Centre against the state government on the knife attack on Jaganmohan Reddy rather than seeking funds for the benefit of the cyclone victims.

"For them, complaining against the state government was more important than pleading with it for succor to the victims," Naidu said. He said that he did not make out what kind of a leader Jaganmohan Reddy was since he never bothered to comfort the people affected by the cyclone.
“Worse still, the YSRC activists had obstructed relief works which were underway in the district," he said.

In an equal measure, he questioned why Pawan Kalyan remained silent on asking the Centre to account for not helping the victims.

He visited Uddanam but later he kept quiet. “Isn't it your responsibility to ask the Centre to come to the rescue of the victims?" he asked and wondered how the Centre could remain so hidebound to the needs of the district which is going through a cataclysmic phase.

Referring to the relief and rehabilitation works which are in progress, Naidu said that his government was committed to helping Uddanam area get back its past glory. He said the Titli cyclone had taught a few lessons and in future enough care would be taken to prevent damage if there is a repeat of nature wreaking vengeance on the district.

He recalled how he coordinated the efforts to mitigate the suffering of the people when the Hudhud cyclone hit Visakhapatnam in 2014. “I stayed put in Visakhapatnam for one week and ensured that restoration work went on without any hitch," he said,

Naidu warned the staff who might resort to irregularities in handing over relief to the victims. "If any such irregularity comes to my notice, I will take stringent action against such staff," he said, and pointed out that due to Titli 15 lakh people in 25 mandals have been affected and the loss was estimated at Rs 3,618 crore.