Amit Shah 'sheds crocodile tears' for Andhra after using Jagan as puppet for 5 years: Y S Sharmila

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Y S Sharmila on Monday accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of "shedding crocodile tears" by saying the state was devastated during 2019-2024.

She alleged that Shah’s newfound concern comes after using Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy as a rubber stamp and puppet for five years.

Responding to Shah’s criticism of the YSRCP regime during a recent event near Vijayawada, Sharmila remarked that Reddy had completely aligned with the BJP-led NDA government, supporting all its bills in Parliament.

"For five years, Jagan was your foster son and a mere rubber stamp, endorsing every bill in Parliament. You used the YSRCP to your advantage for five years, plundering the state, only to now shed crocodile tears over the devastation caused under its regime," Sharmila wrote in a post on X.

She further stated that the people of Andhra Pradesh are not naive to believe Shah’s promises, pointing out that the Centre has allegedly ‘cheated’ the state for 10 years by failing to fulfill the promises made under the Andhra Reorganisation Act, of 2014.

She said Shah's claim that the NDA government will support the state and allocate Rs 3 lakh crore to restore its past glory is another example of deception.

If Shah truly believes there was devastation under the erstwhile YSRCP regime, central enforcement agencies should probe into the previous government's deeds, Sharmila said.

Asserting that Jagan and the BJP were equally responsible for the alleged devastation during that period, she accused the YSRCP chief of handing over Andhra Pradesh’s resources to the Adani Group and Narendra Modi.

"If the YSRCP regime was a calamity and the past five years devastation, were you (Shah) merely watching as a spectator from Delhi? Weren’t you in power at the Centre during those five years?" Sharmila asked.

She further questioned Shah whether the Centre was unaware that the state was being governed without capital for five years and that state's borrowing mounted to Rs 10 lakh crore were taken.

Similarly, she asked why Shah, as the Union Home Minister, remained silent when a campaign was launched at the Delhi level to bring YS Vivekananda Reddy’s murderers to justice.

Vivekananda Reddy, the uncle of Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, was murdered in the lead-up to the 2019 elections. YSRCP Kadapa MP Y S Avinash Reddy is an accused in the case.