Release funds for Barashahid Dargah, says rebel YSRCP MLA

He said his repeated attempts to get funds by raising the issue at various levels including at the District Development Review Committee meetings, did not fructify

Members of the Muslim community led by rebel YSR Congress Party MLA Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy staged a protest here on Friday demanding release of ₹15 crore for a facelift to Barashahid Dargah which is visited by pilgrims cutting across religious lines from across south India.

Speaking on the occasion, the dissident YSRCP MLA from Nellore Rural Assembly constituency said though Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had given a green signal for the development of amenities for pilgrims on January 2, the Finance Department had not released the sanctioned amount till now.

He said his repeated attempts to get funds by raising the issue at various levels including at the District Development Review Committee meetings, did not fructify. Hence, he decided to hit the streets, said the MLA who had resorted to a ‘Gandhian way of protest including Satyagraha’, to exert pressure on officials to end the civic woes of the people, he explained.

It was unfortunate that the YSRCP government instead of releasing funds allegedly resorted to tapping of his phones and looked at him with suspicion though he did not speak ill of the Chief Minister or the party. With no other option, he had decided to part ways with the YSRCP, he explained.

The proposed development works include a ‘Shadikhana’ and a school for minority students. As a result, a minority school continued to be run from a rented building. Whatever development the dargah had witnessed was during the previous regime, he said.