TDP Assails Jagan Over Idol Desecration

TDP chief and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu today slammed Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy over the issue of the desecration of an idol of Lord Kodanda Rama at the Ramateertham temple in Nellimarla of Vizianagaram district.

The TDP leader accused the CM of having insulted the Hindu community of the state by failing to prevent the "unfortunate" incident, and claimed that the occurrence signalled the destruction of the law and order situation in AP under the YSR Congress Party's regime.

"No such untoward incidents, involving attacks on any religious buildings, ever took place when the TDP government was in power. All the preceding regimes were committed to maintaining peace and harmony in the state. In fact, under former CM N T Rama Rao, the state had even achieved the ideal of the Rama Rajya without marginalising any other communities. This incident, therefore, is a shameful blotch on the state's history," he said.

Naidu also asked the current CM whether he even considered it a part of his responsibility to safeguard the interests of the various religious communities in the state.

"What is distressing is that this was not an isolated incident - 127 temples in the state have been attacked since the YSRCP came into power. The regime's complacent attitude towards such occurrences is condemnable," he said.

The TDP chief also targeted the state police and asked them what they had been doing at the time of the incident.

"The deterioration of the law and order situation in the state is a matter of great concern. I wonder what the state's police were doing when the incident took place. Were they busy playing games instead of doing their duty? They are enjoying themselves as they are protected by the CM. But they should remember that nobody will be able to shield them from the anger of the public who are sure to rebel against them if they continue to ignore their duties," he said.

Following the kerfuffle caused by the destruction of the Rama idol, the national General Secretary of the YSR Congress Party and MP V Vijayasai Reddy strongly refuted the allegations made by Naidu, and accused the former CM of having hatched a conspiracy to stage the entire incident to divert the people's attention away from the welfare programs being implemented by the Jagan government.

He said that the government was even ready to swear that it was not involved in the incident in any way at the famed Simhachalam temple in Visakhapatnam.