Telugu Mahila, the women’s wing of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), president V. Anitha has questioned Andhra Pradesh Tourism Minister R.K Roja as to why did she not react to the ‘rise in atrocities against women’ and the complaints about the free flow of liquor and easy availability of ganja in the State.
“No woman in the State will show sympathy to Ms. Roja even if she cries because she has failed to stand by the women during their tough times,” said Ms. Anitha while addressing the media at the TDP office on October 4 (Wednesday).
Ms. Anitha said that Ms. Roja had badly criticised her in the Assembly when the TDP was in power. “Ms. Roja has body-shamed several TDP women leaders during press conferences. Ms. Roja did not condemn when the YSRCP leaders made derogatory remarks against N. Bhuvaneswari [wife of TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu] in the Assembly,” said Ms. Anitha.
She said, “When TDP Mahila leaders broke into tears unable to bear the statements made by the YSRCP leaders, the Tourism Minister felt that we were acting. Now, when someone commented against her, she cried before the media. Should we call this acting?”.
The Telugu Mahila leader said that she had lodged police complaints thrice over her mophed photographs on social media and derogatory statements made by miscreants. “Forget about action, even an FIR was not registered. I was only given a receipt. But when a statement is made on a YSRCP woman leader, around 200 police personnel came knocking on the doors,” said Ms. Anitha, while referring to the arrest of TDP leader and former MLA Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy.
Liquor prohibition
The TDP Polit Bureau member said that when the YSRCP was in the opposition, Ms. Roja and Mahila Commission Chairperson Vasireddi Padma had staged dharnas, demanding the prohibition of liquor. “Why are they silent now when hundreds of people are dying from health ailments by consuming the liquor being sold at the government-run outlets?” she asked.
“If Ms. Roja thinks that she is really fighting for the women’s cause, then she must come to Visakhapatnam and go with me to the gastroenterology ward of the King George Hospital (KGH). I will show her what the YSRCP government has done after promising liquor prohibition in the State,” she added.
