Minister Nara Lokesh says former CM Jagan Mohan tried to destroy barrage

VIJAYAWADA: TDP leaders, including Human Resource Development Minister Nara Lokesh and others, launched an all-out attack on former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, accusing the YSRC chairman of conspiring to plunge hundreds of thousands of people into water by trying to destroy the gates of the Prakasam Barrage with boats.

Taking to social media platform ‘X’, Lokesh on Tuesday alleged that Jagan, when in power, encroached on the Annamayya project in favour of his sand mafia, which resulted in the death of 50 people and total destruction of five villages. In the same vein, Jagan had tried to destroy the gates of Prakasam Barrage using iron boats to cause huge loss of lives in Vijayawada and several island villages downstream, he alleged.

“While Jagan hatched the plot to destroy Prakasam Barrage, the plan was executed by YSRC MLC Talasila Raghuram and former MP Nandigam Suresh. However, Jagan’s gang is making propaganda by blaming the government for the floods to cover up their plots,” Lokesh posted.

Speaking to reporters at the party headquarters, TDP Politburo member Varla Ramaiah accused the YSRC leaders of hatching a plot to destroy the Prakasam dam with boats full of sand to discredit the democratically elected government.

He alleged that Jagan, YSRC leaders Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, Nandigam Suresh and Talasila Raghuram were involved in the conspiracy and demanded the arrest of not only those involved in the conspiracy but also its masterminds.

Varla stated that the boats were in Uddandarayunipalem a day before the Prakasam Dam was flooded. Later, they were taken to the dam to demolish it.

He was seriously concerned that a bigger disaster than ‘Diviseema Uppena’ would have happened if the boats hit the pillars of the dam instead of the counterweights. According to him, in such a scenario, hundreds of villages would have been washed away.

Alleging that the YSRC leaders did not hesitate to risk the lives of people to satisfy their thirst for power, Varla said the conspiracy should be thoroughly probed. “Such acts should be considered on par with sedition and a special inquiry should be conducted into it. The DGP should lay special emphasis on the matter to bring the conspirators to book,” he said.