Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has reacted bitterly to Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari’s claim that Andhra Pradesh had received huge funds from the Centre.
“There is no truth in his claims. The Centre did not do any great favour to Andhra Pradesh and treated it like any other State, though it required special attention and assistance,” he said addressing a teleconference with party leaders on Tuesday.
“In fact, huge funds were released to the BJP-ruled States of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. As much as ₹1 lakh crore was allotted for a Bullet train. The funds were released for construction of the roads with toll plazas. The State developed because of sustained efforts and hard work of the State government, but not due to the assistance from the Centre. Andhra Pradesh was ranked 49 in WEF Index, whereas India was ranked 58. AP would be taken further ahead,” he said, adding, “The entire credit for developing the State goes to the TDP.”
Polavaram
Mr. Gadkari owes an explanation why the revised Detailed Project (DPR)-2 for Polavaram project was not approved though it was submitted a year ago.
Unless there was approval from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, funds would not be released to any State, the Chief Minister said, adding, “Mr. Modi is an embodiment of discrimination.”
The success of Unity rally in Kolkatta sent shivers down the spine of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, M. Naidu claimed.
It was clear that the BJP was worried when it said that the non-BJP alliance had four Prime Ministers.
EVMs
Referring to EVMs, Mr. Naidu said international cyber experts had warned that EVMs could be tampered with, providing ample evidence.
There should be no room for suspicion in democracy . Only after the TDP fought the issue, did the VVPAT receipts come up. But the print on the receipt was very light and melted quickly. Also, VVPAT was not available in all the constituencies. A national-level debate was on on the issue and the representatives of 22 parties would meet the Election Commission in this regard, he said.