Jagan bent on ruining Andhra Pradesh: Chandrababu Naidu

Amaravati, Jan 4: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national President N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday hit out at Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, saying the latter is bent on ruining the state in an irreparable manner.

The former Chief Minister, who termed Reddy as a 'betrayer' and a 'professional liar', made a scathing attack on the rule of YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in the last 32 months.

Addressing a news conference, Naidu alleged that Reddy is a 'man of destruction' whose regime perpetrated attacks on constitutional institutions, obstructed Polavaram, demolished Amaravati, centralised corruption and imposed financial burden on the poor.

The leader of opposition said that the destruction that began with the demolition of the government's Praja Vedika building in 2019 has been going on endlessly. He was referring to the meeting hall demolished after the YSRCP came to power.

Praja Vedika was built next to the residence of Naidu in Amaravati when he was the Chief Minister.

Naidu said that destruction would be easy but it would require a lot of effort to construct anything. He recalled that Reddy had held a conference of district collectors at Praja Vedika and ordered its demolition at the same meeting. The structure was demolished on June 25, 2019 but the debris has still not been cleared.

"The debris of Praja Vedika are lying there as a witness to the CM's retrograde policies," the TDP leader said.

Naidu said the poorer sections are bearing the brunt of Reddy's ‘reckless' policies which pushed the state into a deeper debt trap. The educated and business sections might go to other states for opportunities, but the poor people would have to remain in Andhra Pradesh and repay the mounting state debt that is being caused by the corrupt regime.

Naidu asserted that an able administrator would only look for opportunities to create wealth so as to generate income and meet welfare goals in a sustainable manner, but Reddy crushed Amaravati despite it being a Rs 2 lakh crore asset. Already Rs 10,000 crore has been spent on capital buildings, which are now in dilapidated condition due to YSRCP government's atrocious policies, he said.

The TDP chief lamented that Amaravati marked the peak of destruction under Reddy's rule. Over 29,000 farmers voluntarily gave 33,000 acres of land with a noble objective to construct capital for their state. The intellectuals should debate this issue and analyse the disastrous consequences of the government's destruction on the future generations of the state, he said.

Naidu also held the government's reverse tendering responsible for the delay in Polavaram. "Can Reddy complete it in 2022? Can the government release a white paper on the delay," he asked.

The leader of opposition recalled that the YSRCP had promised to complete Polavaram by December 2021 but the DPR is yet to be finalised. The Chief Minister should explain to the people why he could not get clearances for such an important project even after 32 months, he said.