Mangalagiri: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday said TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu ignored the handloom weavers’ community during his tenure.
The YSRCP chief made this observation during an interaction with the weavers’ community at Mangalagiri in Guntur district as part of his ‘Memanta Siddham’ (we are all ready) election canvassing bus tour.
“Chandrababu ignored the industry (weavers community) in his previous term, but the current government has backed them in the last five years,” said Reddy, adding that Mangalagiri weavers are renowned in the Telugu speaking states for their craft.
The chief minister asserted that the YSRCP government has tied up with several e-commerce companies to enable the local weavers to sell their wares online, including clearing Rs 120 crore worth of debts of the Andhra Pradesh State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society, among other initiatives.
The YSRCP chief said Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh are allegedly denying election tickets to BC community members even though their population is high in certain constituencies, especially in places such as Mangalagiri and Kuppam.
According to Reddy, YSRCP allocated 50 per cent seats to BC community members for the forthcoming polls.
As part of his 14th day campaign, the chief minister toured through Kaza, Mangalagiri, Kunchanapalli, Tadepalli, Varadhi, Vijayawada city, Chuttugunta, Kandriga Nidamanuru and Ramavarapadu. He is scheduled to take a night halt at Kesarapalli in NTR District.
Reddy has embarked on a 21-day election campaign bus tour from Idupulupaya in Kadapa district to Icchapuram in Srikakulam district.
Elections for the 175-member Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh are scheduled on May 13 and the counting of votes is slated for June 4.
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