Ridiculing Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s plans of making the State compete for top three positions in the country by 2022, YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said on Sunday that the State could have reached the top position by now had Mr. Naidu not compromised on the Special Category Status (SCS) issue. Mr. Reddy was addressing a gathering at Penugonda in West Godavari district as part of his Praja Sankalpa Yatra.
Corruption
He said the State topped the country in corruption in 2016, and went on to be ahead of others in terms of incidents of rape, debts, sale of liquor, violation of the Constitution, defections, and burden of loan on farmers. “Mr. Naidu speaks about 2050. At that time, he would be 102 years old, and he wants to keep ruling and looting the State till then. But the State has no strength to bear him,” Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said.
Responding to the Chief Minister’s challenge to the YSRCP MPs who had resigned on going for re-election, he said the MPs had the guts to resign 14 months before the elections for the sake of SCS.
“Had your MPs joined the protest and submitted their resignations to the Speaker, the Central government would have given in to the State’s demand for SCS by now. You are the reason for this failure,” he said.
Mr. Reddy said that as part of his party’s Navaratna strategy for the State, SHG women would be given loans at 0% interest. “We will also ensure that every family in the State has a house, and it would be registered in the name of women. Women can get loans for 25 paisa interest on houses whenever they need money,” he said.