Prakasham: A Dalit Sarpanch, who won the election with the support of TDP, came into limelight today when he shared his story with Leader of Opposition of Andhra Pradesh Assembly and YSR Congress Party Chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as part of the Praja Sankalpa Yatra in Kodigudlapadu village of Pamuru mandal in Prakasam district.

The sarpanch, Thaathapudi Bhushanam of Kodigudlapadu village won the sarpanch elections as a TDP supporter. Irritated by continuous harassment by the TDP top leadership, he reached out to YS Jagan and shared his awful story.

Bhushanam was seen stitching footwear near the Praja Sankalpa Yatra premises and grabbed the attention of one and all including YSRCP Chief. Then YS Jagan met him, he began narrating his story. “Few days after getting elected, the TDP leadership eliminated me from the sarpanch post by misuse of power, though it is an SC reserved seat. With the support of villagers, I fought back and regained the post. Even then, the officials cancelled my cheque power. They harassed me in many ways.

They never allowed me to sit on the sarpanch chair. My name was never mentioned in any of the inaugurations. Moreover, they falsely alleged that I do not reside in the village. In these circumstances, I went to the High Court on my cheque power issue. The court ruled in my favour. For four months, the TDP leaders pressurized the officials and blocked the implementation of the High Court order. During this time, the TDP leaders misused huge amounts of the Gram Panchayat funds. When I question them, they harassed me abusing in the name of my caste. Even though I have filed an SC Atrocity case, not even the smallest action has been taken them,” he uttered out his woes.

Not leaving with that, Bhushanam took the issue to the government’s notice and met CM Chandrababu, Panchayat Raj minister Lokesh, district collector, DPO and MPDO. Much to the despair of Bhushanam, no one has taken up his problem. He agonized, “The CM and some of the ministers have made fun of Dalits on various occasions. Due to this, the local TDP leaders are also behaving in the same way.” He has announced that he is resigning from the TDP and joining YSRCP.