Andhra: Public resentment growing against coalition government, claims Jagan

Amaravati, Feb 6 (IANS) Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday claimed that the resentment among people is growing, sending danger bells ringing in the coalition government in the state.

Addressing a press conference, he alleged that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu during his nine months in office uttered blatant lies. He said that destructive policy decisions, corruption, financial vandalism and cheating marked the TDP-led government’s nine months in office.

Jagan Mohan Reddy slammed the Chief Minister for his ‘lies’ on state finances, implementation of welfare schemes, governance, growth rate and social welfare. He cited data to dispute Naidu’s claims.

He alleged that Naidu cheated people with false promises. “This was foretold by me during electioneering that Chandrababu Naidu has been giving false and impracticable promises,” he said.

The former Andhra Prasesh CM said that Chandrababu Naidu had given 143 promises during elections covering all sections of people but he not only failed to implement them but has also done away with the existing welfare schemes much to the ire of students, youth, women, farmers and all other sections. Instead of creating jobs, he has retrenched and relocated ward and village secretariat employees and others. The regular employees were also cheated on their dues and allowances, he said.

“As of now, he has borrowed or applied for loans to the tune of Rs 1.45 lakh crore and while carrying the baggage of all the unfulfilled promises, where this amount landed is the question he has to answer. The rampant corruption prevailing in the state has a pattern in the form of a cartel from locals to the top leadership having their cut, leaving development and welfare to the wind. Indiscriminate liquor outlets and gambling dens are flourishing in the state,” Jagan Mohan Reddy said.

“The wealth creation Chandrababu talks about is not for the people but for him and his coterie or else how can he justify the rejection of medical seats and privatizing medical education while we have initiated the process of building 17 medical colleges to improve medical facilities and make medical education affordable to the poor,” he said.

Stating that YSRCP government has developed four ports and 10 fishing harbors, the former chief minister alleged that Naidu has given them to his people on a platter.

“Chandarbabu’s silence on the Polavaram dam height and fund allocation shows that his priorities lie elsewhere and not on state interests. This also reflects in the recent budget as Bihar with fewer number of MPs could get a lion’s share while Andhra Pradesh had to be content with whatever was given, he said.

On state finances, Jagan Mohan Reddy said that his government had performed better than the national average and previous TDP government despite Covid. He claimed that during the seven-month period from June to December 2024, there was negative growth in state revenues.

The YSR Congress chief said that all these days, the coalition leaders had spread lies that Jagan Mohan Reddy borrowed Rs 14 lakh crore but in their own budget they brought it down to Rs 6.46 lakh crore.

Jagan said said that Chandrababu Naidu resorted to mockery of democracy in the recent elections to urban local bodies where TDP declared itself winner without even having numbers by misusing official machinery and resorting to unethical and coercive tactics.

–IANS

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