Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has insulted the Dalits by remotely laying the foundation stone for the 125-foot-tall statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar at Swaraj Maidan here, TDP Polit Bureau member Varla Ramaiah has alleged.
Addressing the media here on Thursday, Mr. Ramaiah said it would take just a few minutes for the Chief Minister to reach the venue, but he preferred to lay the stone remotely and not spend even a single minute at the Smriti Vanam.
“This shows that the Chief Minister has no real intention to develop the Smriti Vanam at the PWD Grounds, as the land is under court’s seizure. The court had seized it following a case filed by the Pulichintala contractors for non-payment of bills towards completed works,” Mr. Ramaiah alleged.
He further said the government promised to develop the project in 20 acres, but in reality only 13 acres was available as the remaining extent had structures such as Krishna Polytechnic, rythu bazaar, irrigation and electricity offices, and judges quarters.
“It is evident that Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy has hurriedly announced the project only to appease the Dalits,” he said.
‘Project in Amaravati’
Had Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy been sincere, he would have allocated more funds to complete the Ambedkar Smriti Vanam project in Amaravati, for which ₹30 crore had already been spent as against ₹97 crore allocated by the TDP government, he said.
“Dalits too are educated and politically awake. The Chief Minister is under the false impression that he can trick and use them as a vote-bank,” he said, and added that the government should publish a White Paper on how it would reclaim the 20 acres land at the PWD Grounds and resolve the legal hurdles.
