VIJAYAWADA: Turning up the heat on the government ahead of Tirupati Lok Sabha bypoll, BJP State chief Somu Veerraju on Sunday announced that his party will undertake a Rath Yatra from Ramatheertham to Kapila Theertham from February 4 to protest against attacks on temples and other ‘anti-Hindu’ activities in the YSRC regime.
Alleging ‘illegal religious conversions’ in the State, Somu also demanded that the government publish a white paper on the assets owned by churches, Christian institutions and individual trusts, besides the details of ‘salaries’ being paid to pastors by the State.After a day-long State core committee meeting in Visakhapatnam, Somu divulged to the media the details of the decisions taken.
“The party has decided to take out a Rath Yatra from Ramatheertham to Kapila Theertham from February 4 for eight days. The yatra will proceed through the places where vandalisation of temples has occurred. The issue of non-religious activities in Srisailam, Pithapuram, Antarvedi, Vijayawada, Nellore and other places will also be taken into the public during the yatra,” he said.
The BJP has already informed the attacks on temples in the State to the Union Home Ministry. It will soon take up the issue of ‘illegal religious conversions’. “We have also decided to represent to the Union Home Ministry that a vigil is needed on missionary activities in Andhra Pradesh,” Somu noted.
The party, which termed DGP Gautam Sawang’s statement that four BJP members were involved in issues related to temple attacks, has decided to give time till January 20 to the police chief to withdraw his statement and apologise.
Prior to the commencement of the core committee meeting, Somu held a press conference, in which he demanded Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to sack the DGP. “Is attack on temples and sharing messages on social media same? The CM should take note of the fact that a higher cadre police official made baseless allegations such as these, that too by taking a political party’s name, insulting Hindu sentiments, and sack him from the post,” he demanded.
Noting that only one per cent of population in AP is Christians, Somu demanded that the government issue a white paper on the assets of churches and other Christian institutions. “In North India, there is Love Jihad. We should find out what is there here. Officially, only one per cent of our population is Christians, but there are no Hindus in several communities. Some are getting benefits of reservation. The government should immediately act without being a spectator. The government which has details of all Hindu assets, should also constitute a committee on the assets of Christian institutions and publish a white paper,” he said.
The BJP also discussed the strategies for the Tirupati parliamentary byelection and has decided to take up various public programmes in the next three months. It has also decided to form a committee, entrusting it the responsibility of inviting people to join the saffron party.“Like the protest we did on roads, we have identified five-six public issues and we will organise various programmes in the next three months. Similarly, a committee has been entrusted to take care of strengthening the party, and consulting and inviting new people,” Somu noted.
To a query on consultations with former minister and former TDP State chief Kala Venkata Rao, Somu said, “No consultations took place with him. But talks happened with his brother Ramakrishna and Ramakrishna’s son, both of them also met me. Also, former minister Padala Aruna met me. A decision in this regard will be taken in due course.”The core committee meeting was attended by BJP State incharge V Muraleedharan, co-incharge Sunil Deodhar, national general secretary D Purandeswari and others.
It is against Constitution to pay public money to pastors, says BJP chief Somu Veerraju
Vijayawada: Referring to the reported arrest of pastor Praveen Chakravarthy, who reportedly confessed in an old video to disfiguring Hindu idols, BJP state chief Somu Veerraju claimed that neither the government nor the DGP had spoken on the incident. He also sought a clear answer from the YSRC government and chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as to why the government was paying salaries (honorarium) to the pastors. “Praveen Chakravarthy claimed that he was paying around 3,000 pastors. He was taking money in the name of public service, but was using it to pay the pastors. It is against the Constitution to pay public money to pastors. But, here the government is paying them a salary directly. We demand a clear answer from the government as to why is it paying them and for what purposes,” he said.
