Amaravati, March 27 Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress President Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has slammed the NDA government over the demolition of Kasinayana Jyothi Kshetram in Badvel constituency of Kadapa district.
He said that the demolition of the famous Kasinayana temple and the attacks on temples and Hinduism in the state after the coalition government came to power show under whose rule Hindu dharma was protected.
Jagan Mohan Reddy took to ‘X’ on Thursday to lash out at the TDP-led coalition government over the demolition.
The former Chief Minister said that though the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests issued orders on August 7, 2023, to stop constructions in the Kasinayana Jyothi Kshetram located in the forest area and to remove them, the YSRCP government took steps to protect it.
He recalled that on August 18, 2023, he as the then Chief Minister wrote a letter to the then Union Forest Minister Bhupendra Yadav, requesting that the 12.98 hectares of land where the Kasinayana Jyothi Kshetram is located be excluded from the Forest Department and reserved for that site and that whatever compensation is sought for this or any restrictions imposed, they be followed.
“With our efforts, the Center stopped its actions. During our five years of rule, no one has taken a single action against the Kasinayana Jyothi Kshetram. This is a testament to our sincerity towards the protection of temples and spiritual centers,” he posted.
The YSRCP Chief said that within six months after the coalition government came to power, at the direction of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and under the supervision of Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, bulldozers razed a renowned temple.
He termed the demolition a “barbaric attack” on Hindu Dharma driven by an ‘arrogant’ government. The former Chief Minister, who posted the letter written by him to the Centre as the then Chief Minister and the orders of the present government for demolition, challenged the coalition government to respond to what he called irrefutable evidence.
Y.S. Jagan accused the coalition of hypocrisy, claiming that they issued orders for demolition and then spun tales to cover it up.
“A self-proclaimed Sanatana Dharma advocate hasn’t said a word about demolitions under his own department. Does he have any right to speak on Hindu Dharma?” asked Jagan Mohan Reddy while taking a dig at Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, who oversees the Forest Department.
The former Chief Minister also cited other controversies under the current regime, including the Tirumala laddu propaganda and Tirumala stampede, as further evidence of their attacks on Hindu dharma.
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