YSRCP to make MAVIGUN central 2029 poll plank against Amaravati: Jagan

Amaravati, Jul 1 (PTI) YSRCP supremo Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday said the party would contest the 2029 polls with MAVIGUN as the central plank in its manifesto against the TDP-led coalition government's Amaravati project. Addressing a press conference at the YSRCP central office in Tadepalli, Jagan said people backing MAVIGUN would vote for the YSRCP, while those supporting the greenfield capital city of Amaravati would vote for the TDP-led coalition. "We continue to stand by the MAVIGUN proposal, and it will be our principal slogan in the next elections," the former chief minister said. Alleging rampant corruption in the name of Amaravati, he described MAVIGUN as a fitting response. The Leader of the Opposition has recently been campaigning for MAVIGUN as the state capital, arguing that it is more viable and already has strong infrastructure, with a port as well as road, rail and air connectivity. Jagan argued that the Machilipatnam-Vijayawada-Guntur region's natural advantages made it well suited to serve as the state capital. However, his position on the capital issue has undergone several shifts over the past seven years. In 2019, after assuming office, his government had halted major construction works in Amaravati and subsequently proposed a three-capital model, with Visakhapatnam as the executive capital, Amaravati as the legislative capital and Kurnool as the judicial capital. Speaking on the "Dalit Christian" issue, Jagan alleged that TDP leaders were attempting to inflame caste and communal tensions and accused Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of remaining silent amid the controversy. "Chandrababu has remained silent even as his party leaders have been stoking religious passions by spreading venom. The TDP should make its stand on the Dalit Christian issue clear," he added. Calling on the chief minister to clarify his stand on the Dalit Christian issue, Jagan said the YSRCP had already conveyed its position to the Justice (Retd) K G Balakrishnan Commission. Jagan said the YSRCP was of the opinion that a person's social status would not change merely by converting to another religion, and recalled that the erstwhile YSRCP government had also passed a resolution in the Assembly in March 2023, requesting the Centre to confer SC status on "Dalit Christians" by amending the Constitution. Coining the slogan "Hey Ram, Save Andhra", Jagan accused Naidu of "weaponising the police department to settle political scores." He accused Naidu of setting a new trend of making "victims into accused". "This pattern could be seen in the recent Undavalli incident, where our party (YSRCP) team was attacked by TDP cadre. While we were the victims, cases were registered against us," he said. He said their team had been on its way to Penumaka on the invitation of farmers, to observe the alleged harassment meted out to them and the "large-scale corruption and extravaganza involved in Amaravati". According to Jagan, anyone questioning the government was "being harassed through false cases and sent to jail." Calling it a "jungle raj", Jagan vowed to stand by the victims and fight for justice. Referring to the custodial death of the youth Gade Sai Krishna, Jagan alleged that the law and order situation in Andhra Pradesh had deteriorated sharply. He claimed the incident had been suppressed for a long time and came to light only after he visited Sai Krishna's family. Questioning why top officials had not been booked in the custodial death case, Jagan asked why the CCTV footage had disappeared from the three-tier storage points, alleging that this clearly showed how senior officials were trying to water down the case. "There is every effort to save the top people, and the remand report has been revealing astounding and atrocious details. The loss of CCTV footage and no call data collection shows how the case is being covered up, and the government has no remorse either," he said. He accused the police of diluting the case relating to the alleged suicide of Dalit youth Perupogu Kranthi Kumar, who, he claimed, had recorded a viral video naming arrested inspector S S V V Naga Raju as being responsible for his death. Referring to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, Jagan alleged that efforts were being made to delete the names of YSRCP supporters from the voter list. He questioned how they would be able to access welfare schemes if their names were removed. Reacting to Jagan's claims, Naidu accused the YSRCP of "attempting to sow discord" among castes, religions and regions by "spreading fake news" daily. Addressing a public meeting in Nellore earlier in the day, Naidu said the entire state wanted Amaravati as the capital, while the YSRCP alone opposed it. He alleged that the opposition party continued to conspire against the greenfield capital because it could not accept the "brisk pace of work" there. He said Andhra Pradesh had been left without a capital due to the previous government's "disastrous decisions" and alleged that the three-capitals proposal had created confusion over the state's capital. Naidu alleged that the YSRCP was deploying "rowdies" to disrupt development in Amaravati under the guise of "protecting" the capital. PTI STH SSK