Jagan flays demolition of Kasinayana Jyothi Kshetram

Vijayawada: YSRC Ppresident Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy criticised the NDA government over the demolition of Kasinayana Jyothi Kshetram in Badvel constituency of YSR 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 CM wrote to the then Union forest minister Bhupendra Yadav, requesting that the 12.98 hectare 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 Centre 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 centres,” 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.