Hyderabad: Five months after the alliance comprising Telugu Desam Party, JanaSena Party and Bharatiya Janata Party romped to power in Andhra Pradesh, deputy chief minister and JanaSena chief Pawan Kalyan has fired a salvo at Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu-led administration, slamming the law and order situation in the state.
In an outburst Monday that took public and political circles by surprise, Kalyan expressed serious concerns, especially about the high incidence of crimes against women and girl children in Andhra Pradesh. He called it a continuation of the “legacy” of the previous government led by Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party, and highlighted the “lethargy of the police in dealing sternly with perpetrators under the new regime”.
The deputy chief minister specifically mentioned the case of a 3.5-year-old girl, who was raped and murdered in Tirupati Friday by her maternal uncle, and expressed dismay, saying that even IPS-level officers are weighing factors like caste when dealing with the offenders in such cases.
In Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister Naidu holds the law portfolio himself, while TDP legislator Anitha Vangalapudi is the home affairs and disaster management minister.
Maintenance of law and order is very important for development, Kalyan said, in an oblique reference to the Naidu government’s emphasis on industrial investments and growth since it took over in June.
Kalyan made the remarks even as Naidu said Saturday that people committing atrocities against women would be dealt with strictly. Reacting to the incident in Tirupati, he said, “If the law allows, a couple of rogues who behave like animals should be hanged publicly. Only then will they fear.”
Within two days of Naidu issuing the warning, Kalyan publicly criticised the director general of police (DGP), district superintendents of police, collectors and even home minister Vangalapudi, asking them to responsibly fulfil their duties towards safeguarding women and young girls.
“The situation will be different if I take charge of the home department. Criminals should be dealt with like CM Yogi Adityanath did in Uttar Pradesh,” Kalyan said Monday, while speaking at a public event in his assembly constituency of Pithapuram. The deputy chief minister holds the Panchayati Raj, rural development, environments, forests, science and technology portfolios. Nadendla Manohar (civil supplies) and Kandula Durgesh (tourism) are the two other ministers from JSP in Naidu’s cabinet.
The JSP chief also sent out a stern message to YSRCP leaders aggravating the situation, saying that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is “not vengeful”, but not “timid or toothless” either.
Though Kalyan’s remarks have caused flutter in the ruling alliance, he maintained that the “people-oriented” NDA alliance will not be disrupted by any detractors or other factors.
Reacting to Kalyan’s comments, Buggana Rajendranath, YSRCP leader and former finance minister of Andhra Pradesh, remarked: “Home portfolio is with Vangalapudi, while law and order is with CM. Who are you actually questioning and criticising? The CM, home minister or police department or yourself? You should mind that you are also part of the government as an ally and deputy CM.”
A senior JSP leader told ThePrint that their party chief’s “stinging remarks are a wake-up call for the government head over a larger issue”.
“There is a lot of dissatisfaction, not just in JSP but even among the leaders and cadres of TDP, as Naidu is not going after YSRCP leaders, officials and police officers, who had wronged them, and were deeply involved in corruption, and exploitation of resources like sand, mines,” the leader said. “Even businessmen, who were hand in glove with YSRCP, continue to benefit in the Naidu-led government.”
The leader added: “The government’s complacency and inaction with respect to many YSRCP functionaries over the last five months has encouraged former chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy’s party, an almost dead snake, to start hissing again.”
In the Andhra Pradesh assembly polls earlier this year, the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance had trounced the YSRCP, reducing the Jagan-led party’s tally from 151 in the previous term to 11, out of 175 seats.
The JSP leader also said that after having sacrificed candidature for several seats in the assembly and some in the Lok Sabha for the sake of the alliance, the party got only three of around 20 nominated positions of chairpersons of various corporations, and was given only three positions in the 24-member Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) trust board, which was reconstituted last month.
Also Read: AP formation day debate rages again: No celebrations by Naidu govt even as ally BJP honours 1 November
‘BJP’s design’
A senior TDP leader, on the condition of anonymity, said that by highlighting the condition of law and order, even as he named home minister Vangalapudi, “Pawan has apparently targeted CM Naidu”.
“The JSP chief took up the Hindutva cause, announced the formation of the party’s brigade aimed at safeguarding Sanatana Dharma from attacks on Hindu faith, and has now put the CM on notice with reproachful comments on the ‘failing’ law and order,” the leader said.
“All this posturing would not harm the alliance, but it appears to be BJP’s design for Pawan to emerge stronger, and for him, along with the BJP, to drive a hard bargain with Naidu for the next polls. Of course, such postures and utterances will also keep Naidu on his toes at the same time.”
The TDP leader also acknowledged the reason for the dissatisfaction among the cadres and leaders of both parties, as cited by the JSP leader quoted above.
“In addition, in some places, TDP men are miffed by the inclusion of former YSRCP leaders—who had joined JSP or BJP—in NDA’s coordination committees and other bodies at constituency level.”
However, TDP spokesperson Neelayapalem Vijaya Kumar said, “As deputy CM, Kalyan expressed concern over incidence of crime against women in Andhra Pradesh, aggravated by the ganja (drug) menace. The Naidu administration will take his feedback seriously.”
On the discontent over inaction on YSRCP leaders, Neelayapalem said that even as the chief minister’s position is against vendetta politics, “law will take its course in bringing every culprit—from the corrupt ones to those who had attacked TDP men and vandalised the central TDP office during Jagan’s regime—to book.”
He said, “Some might want instant punishment but that is not how the system works.”
Meanwhile, YSRCP has sought to use Pawan’s remarks to attack Naidu. The party’s women’s wing president, Member of Legislative Council Varudu Kalyani voiced concerns over the “deteriorating” law and order situation in the state, saying that “incidents of violence and assault on women have become a daily occurrence under Chandrababu Naidu’s rule”.
She pointed out that the failure is now being acknowledged by none other than Naidu’s deputy himself. The MLC demanded the resignation of the chief minister and home minister for their “consistent inability to protect women and girls over the past five months”.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
Also Read: Jagan’s ‘welfare volunteers’ in lurch as Naidu quiet about their future, poll promise to double honorarium