YSRCP ‘rebel’ Lok Sabha member Raghurama Krishnam Raju yet again displayed what he is good at — sarcasm.
Raju, who had not been seeing eye-to-eye with the Andhra Pradesh government over its policies, on Monday appealed to Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to lead by example in the state’s combat against the pandemic.
Lauding megastar Chiranjeevi for his awareness campaign appealing to people to wear face masks, Raju said Jagan Mohan Reddy should unleash innovative campaigns to contain the spread of the virus in the state.
In a tongue-in-cheek comment, Raju said Jagan has more fan base than actor Chiranjeevi and that people will strictly follow if he makes an appeal to wear a face mask. “Jagan has more fans than Chiranjeevi. Hence, I appeal to the Chief Minister to start an innovative programme to bring awareness among the people. The programme should be a big hit like Chiranjeevi’s movies,” he stated rather sarcastically.
The Andhra Pradesh government had announced several welfare schemes, at least 20 of them under Jagan’s name, Raju pointed out. Similarly, he advised the state government to start a programme under ‘Jagananna’ name to combat the coronavirus pandemic. “People and the officials will take such a programme seriously. The Andhra Pradesh government should consider naming such a programme as ‘Jaganna Corona Care’ or ‘Jagananna Corona War’. Such a name will strike a chord with the officials and the public,” Raju took a jibe.
Earlier, Raju had advised the Chief Minister to lead by example by wearing a face mask. With an increasing number of his colleagues contracting the deadly virus, Jagan Mohan Reddy perhaps for the first time was seen wearing a mask at the Raj Bhavan for the swearing-in ceremony of the two ministers who were recently inducted into his Cabinet.
Although the state government had announced a fine of Rs 1,000 for not wearing masks in urban areas and Rs 500 in rural areas, the public representatives, including the Chief Minister, were seldom seen wearing a face mask. Even during the recently held two-day Assembly session, Jagan and his colleagues were seen without masks.
It is not just Raju. TDP president and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and party general secretary Lokesh also had urged Jagan to lead by example and wear a facemask when in public. However, Jagan and his colleagues continued to appear in public meetings without a face mask.
It is another matter that the YSRCP leaders were blamed for being ‘Super Spreaders’ of the deadly virus with their irresponsible rallies and meetings since the day the pandemic outbreak in the state.
Several YSRCP legislators contracted the virus in the recent past, including Tenali MLA Annabathuni Siva Kumar, Ponnur MLA Kilari Venkata Rosaiah and Kodumuru MLA Sudhakar.
Deputy Chief Minister Amzath Basha and Sullurpeta MLA Kiliveti Sanjeevaiah were recently shifted to private hospitals in Hyderabad. Another Deputy Chief Minister Narayana Swamy and his family were in home quarantine after two security personnel at his residence in Puttur tested positive for the COVID-19.
