VIJAYAWADA: Taking strong exception to the charges made by YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy against the TDP-led NDA government, HRD Minister Nara Lokesh challenged the former Chief Minister for an open debate on all the issues.
Asserting that the TDP has remained dignified in the way of expressing opinions, Lokesh said, “Even on occasions when emotions carried us away, our leader and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu taught us to be mindful, decorous, and always uphold truth. Because he strongly believes that we are setting a precedent for the future generation of leaders with our behaviour.”
“The foundation of YSRC is built on abuse, violence and lies. Jagan is a liar. He surrounds himself with a pack of liars and criminals of the highest order masquerading as politicians. They are in the business of peddling lies through press meets, fakes and morphs,” Lokesh slammed.
Taking to social media platform ‘X’ on Wednesday, Lokesh gave point-by-point rebuttal to the claims made by the YSRC chief. On the charge that the NDA government undermined the Disha initiative of the previous regime, Lokesh said there was no Disha Act at all. “Jagan’s Disha Act was a lie. There was never an Act or a law. This was the biggest fraud in the country in the name of women’s security,” Lokesh observed. On the YSRC’s claim that law and order was better during 2019-24, he said 2,027 women were brutally murdered in the last five years. Guess what – not a single case was booked under the Disha Act. “Furthermore, during the YSRC regime, over 30,000 of our sisters and daughters disappeared without a trace,” Lokesh mentioned.
On the YSRC’s charge that the police system was not working in the NDA government, he said while the YSRC used police for their benefit to build a dictatorship, the NDA is using police for people’s benefit to build a safer society. The YSRC regime did not invest a single rupee to upgrade police infrastructure and technology. Instead, Jagan used the police to harass Opposition and dissenting voices, he alleged.
While Naidu installed more than 13,000 CCTV cameras to make policing efficient, Jagan spent Rs 12.85 crore to construct an iron compound for his palace. He didn’t even bother to pay power bills to run the CCTV cameras.
“The truth is that Jagan gave a free hand to his men and criminals to abuse and assault women in Andhra Pradesh, and got thrown out of power. The NDA is working tirelessly to undo his many wrongdoings on women’s security and create an environment where women can feel safer. I guess we all know why that hurts the YSRC so much. They don’t even leave their own sisters and mothers unhurt – that’s their culture,” Lokesh observed.
