Minister for Agriculture S. Niranjan Reddy has alleged that president of YSR Telangana Party Y.S. Sharmila was undertaking a padayatra in the State with “arrogance and ulterior motives and insulting the natives with her comments”.
Speaking at an event to distribute pension (identity) cards to 1,331 people from 16 gram panchayats, who were sanctioned social security pensions recently by the State Government following relaxation of the eligible age to 57 years at Gopalpet in Wanaparthy district on Saturday, he observed that Ms. Sharmila’s padayatra was the “result of instigation of some forces in the country unable to digest the development taking place in Telangana”.
“Some individuals are touring, doing padayatras in Telangana by arranging flower-shower with the help of illegally made money by their families and also hiring people for accompanying them in their walkathons. They are insulting the natives forgetting their own roots,” the Minister said. They have a blood-stained background, while the local leaders who were being targeted were in the forefront of Telangana statehood movement.
Asking the YSRTP president to show her strength in Munugode byelection, the Minister said he was among those who had remitted income tax as a practising lawyers much before her father had become an income tax assessee. He also criticised Ms. Sharmila for targeting Atchampet MLA Guvvala Balaraju, who is a native of Polikepadu village falling in Wanaparthy district now.
The Minister said Mr. Balaraju’s focus of development was his Atchampet constituency, while he (Minister) was working for the betterment of Wanaparthy including Polikepadu village. Provision of irrigation facility to the village had helped the farmers there produce ₹20 crore worth crops during the last Yasangi (Rabi) season alone.
On social security pensions, he suggested Ms. Sharmila to compare ₹200 a month given during her father’s rule with ₹2,106 being given now. Gopalpet mandal itself was disbursing ₹16.64 lakh as social security pensions every month, he noted. Zilla Parishad chairperson R. Loknath Reddy and others participated.
