Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Y.S. Sharmila on April 7 (Sunday) said that after successfully completing the task of dislodging an “autocrat” like K. Chandrasekhar Rao in neighbouring Telangana State, she has now come to Andhra Pradesh to put an end to the ‘murder politics’ in Kadapa district.
The Congress president was responding to the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leaders’ demand for an explanation on why she had suddenly migrated from Telangana to Andhra Pradesh ahead of the elections. “The task at hand there was to overthrow KCR’s autocratic regime. Now, the task at hand here is to defeat my opponent from the ruling party, Y.S. Avinash Reddy, and free Kadapa from murder politics,” she reiterated.
As part of her ‘Andhra Pradesh Nyay Yatra’, Ms. Sharmila, who is contesting the coming Lok Sabha election from Kadapa constituency, called on the family of A. Chinna Subbarayudu at Yadavapuram village of Pendlimarri mandal in Kamalapuram constituency, whose two out of three sons were allegedly killed by the followers of Mr. Avinash Reddy.
Narrating his woes to the Congress leader, Mr. Subbarayudu said while one of his sons was crushed under the wheels of a tractor, the other was killed in a stone-pelting attack by some influential persons of the village who enjoyed the tacit support of the sitting MP and the MLA, both from the ruling party. Pointing to his only surviving son, he said he was in constant fear for his life.
Responding to his plight, Ms. Sharmila said the ruling party leaders had scant regard for the very people who had voted them to power. “Have they been voted to power only so that they can carry out murders?” she said.
The Congress president alleged that there was no sign of development anywhere in the State, and that indiscriminate loot and murder had created an atmosphere of fear among people. “The sand and mining mafia are ruling the roost,” she remarked.
She said that even after five years of the murder of former Kadapa MP Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, people who have been identified as the accused in the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation are moving around scot-free. She slammed Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for his “failure to ensure justice to the family of his own paternal uncle by helping the investigating agencies bring the culprits to book.”
“In this election, the people of Kadapa will have to choose between YSR’s daughter and the killer of his brother,” Ms. Sharmila said.
Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Narreddy Sunitha, who accompanied Ms. Sharmila in her campaign, alleged that attempts were made to sideline her father who had a close association with the people of Kadapa. “When they could not succeed in doing so, they killed him,” she said.