Amaravati, Oct 1 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president YS Sharmila on Wednesday asked if it was wrong for her to urge the government to first focus on infrastructure in Dalit colonies rather than building temples there.
Sharmila highlighted that in July the Andhra Pradesh High Court had observed that 228 Dalit students were compelled to use one single bathroom where they were studying and questioned if she was wrong to advise the government to focus on this issue.
“Before focusing on building temples in Dalit localities, government’s attention should first be on schools and providing basic infrastructure there. Is it wrong to ask this?” asked Sharmila in a statement.
The APCC chief alleged that the NDA coalition government is misusing Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) funds while turning a blind eye to Dalit welfare, cautioning that the chief minister must not appear biased towards one religion.
“Neither I nor the Congress Party is against Hindu religion. Congress is an all-faith inclusive party that respects the Constitution and equality for all religions,” she asserted.
Sharmila further alleged that BJP and RSS were distorting her comments, provoking Hindus, instigating seers to attack her, and spreading ‘venomous propaganda’ against her and the Congress Party.
She reminded that she was the first to demand a CBI probe into the Tirumala laddu controversy, calling it a grave sacrilege that hurt devotees’ sentiments, but lamented that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu ‘failed to respond responsibly’.
“When we speak for the people, RSS and BJP speak for religion. The people of the state know who is spreading poison and who truly stands for them,” she remarked.
Meanwhile, BJP State President PVN Madhav criticised Sharmila, accusing her of provoking religious hatred and ‘misleading the public’.
Madhav said Sharmila does not even understand the meaning of RSS and is making statements that allegedly inflame communal tensions across the state.
“She, along with her husband, has personally carried out religious conversions. Yet such a person has been made the APCC president,” he said in a BJP press release.
Madhav alleged that the Congress is indulging in religious politics while unfairly blaming the BJP, and warned that “forced religious conversions would be firmly prevented”.
The BJP gives ‘utmost respect to BR Ambedkar’s ideology and stands firmly for social justice’, he added. PTI MS STH ADB
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