VIJAYAWADA:Leader of the Opposition YS Jaganmohan Reddy has dismissed Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s rallies and meetings condemning sexual assaults against women as a drama with an eye on elections scheduled to be held next year.
“Chandrababu Naidu has been slumbering for the last four years even as atrocities and sexual offenses continued. As elections are nearing, he is shamelessly conducting such meetings, instead of taking measures to prevent atrocities on women,” he said while addressing a large public gathering in Gudivada of Krishna district on Monday evening as part of his Praja Sankalpa Yatra.
He said Chandrababu Naidu is now following a new script --candlelight rallies and meetings -- only to cheat people again and divert their attention. “What was he doing in the last four years? Crime against women has been taking place since the time he took over the reins of CM. In Guntur district, 993 rape cases were reported in the last four years. In East Godavari, the number of such cases were 416 and it was 333 in Kurnool, 255 in Nellore, 121 in Anantapur, 130 in Srikakulam, 120 in Vizianagaram, 204 in Chittoor and 86 in Prakasam. In all, 3,026 rape cases were reported in the last four years,” he explained.
He sought to know why Chandrababu Naidu took notice of those crimes now itself. “ADR report says out of the five ministers with cases of sexual offenses against women, two are in Chandrababu Naidu’s Cabinet,” he said.Describing Naidu as personification of cheating and lying, he said back-stabbing of his own father-in-law shows his real character. “There is a need for a change. We should drive away leaders who go back on their promises,” he said.
Pointing out at the woes of farmers in the Gudivada region, he said the State government has utterly neglected their problems. “During the YSR regime, water used to be provided for two crops, but now water is being provided for only one crop,” he said.Jaganmohan Reddy lambasted the government for failing to provide a proper market price for the black gram. He said even the aqua farmers in Gudivada are facing problems due to the apathy of the government. The YSRC chief accused the government of cheating people in the name of housing.