Chandrababu’s ‘Concern’ For BCs Was Exposed By Justice Eshwaraiah
Mantada, Krishna District: As I stepped into Penamaluru constituency this morning, I walked ahead with a heavy heart for sometime, reminded of the call money racket which rendered thousands of women helpless in this region. Moreover, what was the most painful aspect in the entire matter was the unstinted backing that the offenders received from the ruling party and the official patronage they enjoyed of the TDP government at the higher levels.
Kundeti Venkateswara Rao, a congenitally blind individual met me at Katuru. “Sir, thanks to your father’s generosity and his vision of welfare for all sections of society, thousands of people like me could get pensions. This government has narrowed down the scope I hear, and as a result, many people are denied their pensions. This is indeed unfortunate” he said, with moist eyes. “After your father’s untimely demise, things have taken a turn for the worse. I am told that many people like me are now being denied pensions. I am of the firm conviction that you will do justice to all once you come to power.” I was struck by the concern that this visually impaired elder had for others. Touched by his genuine concern for fellow human beings, I embraced him affectionately and moved on.
Vanga Satyanarayana of Bollapadu village met me further down my Padayatra and became very emotional as he recalled my father’s pioneering initiative of fee reimbursement. “Sir, we could extricate ourselves from dire poverty only because of the vision of your father, the late Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy. My two granddaughters could get themselves educated and pursue higher studies only because of the fee reimbursement scheme, which he had introduced.“ He said that he could never forget the help and service rendered by my father to society. His words made me feel proud of the selfless work done by my father. It is indeed a remarkable accomplishment to fill the lives of the poor with the light of education, to help them brighten their lives and achieve higher goals, and to transform a large section of society by empowering it with education. Such was the work done by my father, as these common citizens everywhere recollected and narrated to me on countless occasions. It filled me with great joy to learn of their success and achievements.
This afternoon, leaders from the BC welfare association met me and were extremely critical of Chandrababu Naidu. They launched a blistering attack on the betrayal of the BCs by Chandrababu and the many ways in which he had stabbed them in the back. They were righteously irate at Chandrababu Naidu’s act of writing to the Centre claiming that lawyers from BC communities were incompetent. The leaders were furious that he made humiliating comments about lawyers from BC communities, recording such observations in his communication to the Centre. They expressed their anguish at the fact that be it fee reimbursement, or budget allocation, or the appointment of judges, the BC communities found themselves at the receiving end in Chandrababu Naidu‘s regime.
Chandrababu Naidu came to them only for the sake of votes and discarded them later, they said. This time around, they would teach him a fitting lesson, they observed angrily. With his sly media management skills, Chandrababu Naidu could keep the disclosures made by Justice Eshwaraiah, former high court judge and former Chairman of National Commission for Backward Classes. Justice Eshwaraiah went public about Chandrababu Naidu‘s attitude towards backward classes. The former judge of the High Court revealed how he had tried to keep members from backward class communities out of the judicial system at the higher level. Chandrababu Naidu distributes pairs of scissors and Iron Boxes (for pressing clothes) to members of BC communities. This is how he cheats them. He intends to keep them backward and underprivileged by cheating them with false promises and token gestures.
I recalled my father’s words of inspiration—“By definition, people belonging to the backward communities are backward only in socio-economic terms, and not in intellect. In matters of intellect, they are as superior as anyone else,” he would always say. In contrast, Chandrababu Naidu is afraid of the empowerment of backward class communities and wants them to remain backward and keep a vice-like grip on them.
I have a question for the chief minister—in the list of names recommended by the Collegium, there were names of BC lawyers who were to be appointed as judges and who fulfilled all the criteria of eligibility. Is it not true that you sent a written communication to the Centre stating that they were incompetent and ineligible to hold the office of judges? Do you have the moral courage to answer this question?
