Suspended YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MLA Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy was placed under house arrest on May 23 as he organised a protest to put pressure on the State government for funds for a Christian community hall in Nellore.
Despite Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy giving a green signal for the ₹6 crore proposal, the community hall has not seen the light of the day, the MLA said soon after he was confined to his house by a team of police personnel.
He condemned the ‘‘undemocratic’‘ police action of preventing him from proceeding to Gandhi Nagar to drum up support for the Christian community hall.
The Chief Minister had cleared the proposal on June 10, 2019, soon after coming to power, Mr. Kotamreddy recalled, adding that the former had given approval to it again on February 3, 2021 and once again on July 27, 2022.
However, for reasons not known to him, the Finance department had not released funds despite his running from pillar to post in the last four years, said the Nellore Rural MLA who also spearheaded a post card and social media campaign to press for release of the promised funds.
“Akin to Kar Seva undertaken by Hindutva outfits for construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya in the past, bricks are being mobilised from different denomination of Churches as the Government has dithered on its promise to release funds,” Mr. Kotamreddy added.
He asserted that he would continue to stand by the people of the constituency and relentlessly work for resolution of civic issues, including an overbridge at Pottepalem and repairing of roads leading to the city from several villages in his constituency.