BJP State vice-president P. Vishnu Kumar Raju appealed to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to visit Visakhapatnam city only between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. or at other times only on Sundays in order to avoid inconvenience to citizens.
Referring to the problems faced by people as traffic was held up on BRTS Road from NAD Kotha Road junction to Pendurthy reportedly for over three hours and alsonear the airport, Mr. Raju told apress conference on Thursday that air passengers had to walk with their luggage from the highway to the airport, and the police had not even allowed them to take their luggage on two-wheelers.
“We have seen a number of Chief Ministers in the past but not citizens being harassed for three hours during their visits. All the shops between NAD Junction and Pendurthi were ordered to be closed but wine shops were kept open. In Delhi, traffic is stopped for not more than 10 minutes even for the Prime Minister’s convoy,”Mr.Rajusaid.
Rushikonda temple
Coming down heavily on the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government for the undue delay in the inauguration of the Sri Venkateswara temple, built by the TTD at Rushikonda, Mr. Raju recalled that the Chief Minister was originally scheduled to inaugurate it on August 13, 2021 and the officials had said that it would be opened to devotees immediately after the inauguration.
“The Ministers had said that the Chief Minister would inaugurate it after ‘Uttarayanam’ (January 14).However, it has come and gone butMr. Jagan has no time to inaugurate the temple,” Mr.Raju said, demanding that a decision be taken within 10 dayson a date for the inauguration of the temple, failing which the BJP leaders would meet priests and fix a date. The Chief Minister should come for the inauguration or else Swamijis would be asked to inaugurate it, he said.
The BJP leader demanded that the government should go for a rethink on the demandsmade bythe government employees and teachers. He sought de-notification of the lands in Seethammadhara, Balayya Sastry Layout and other areas which were placed under Section 22-A, which prevents resale of land.
Replying to queries, he said that theYSRCP government has lost the confidence of the people and it was bound to taste defeat in the next elections. On the alleged high-handed behaviour of the police towards Minister Sidiri Appalaraju, Mr. Raju opined that the police should have treated the Minister with respect but added that the Minister should also have apologised to the police if he hadspoken out of turnin a fit of anger.
