N Chandrababu Naidu will never be taken back into NDA: Amit Shah

VIZIANAGARAM/SRIKAKULAM : At a time when TDP chief and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu through his ‘Dharma Porata Deeksha’ is trying to portray the Narendra Modi government as ‘betrayer’ and ‘anti Andhra Pradesh’, BJP president Amit Shah on Monday retaliated with ‘facts and figures’ to re-energise the party in the State.

Addressing the party’s ‘Shakti Pramuk Sammelan’ of Uttarandhra region in Vizianagaram , Shah challenged Naidu to explain whether it was the Congress, which in its 10-year regime provided only Rs 1.17 lakh crore or BJP-led NDA, which in the last five years has provided funds to the tune of Rs 5.56 lakh crore under different schemes and programmes, that helped Andhra Pradesh.

“Let Chandrababu Naidu explain why he has left the Narendra Modi government which did so much for the State and went to sit in the lap of the Congress, which had failed to take care of the needs of Andhra Pradesh,” the BJP chief said. The BJP chief also asserted that Naidu will never be allowed to return to the NDA again while explaining the latter’s ‘habit’ of ‘betraying’ the party with which he partners. 

Hitting back at Shah for his remarks, Naidu in Delhi questioned, “Who has asked him to open the door? Why is he talking like this? I totally condemn this attitude and arrogance.” 

Daring Naidu to prove him wrong, Shah claimed that the NDA did 10 times more for the development of the State compared to what the Congress did for AP in 55 years. Accusing the TDP chief of lying, Shah said that 10 out of the 14 important provisions in the AP Reorganisation Act, which were to be implemented in 10 years, were implemented before five years itself. 

Listing out various schemes, Shah said Rs 4,100 crore revenue gap was given to the State apart from Rs 2.44 lakh crore under the 14th Finance Commission, Rs 6,100 crore under the PMF, 28,000 crores under Mudra Yojana, Rs 44,000 crore under Bharat Mala and Rs 1.64 lakh crore under Sagar Mala. On Special Category Status, the BJP chief said Visakhapatnam MP Haribabu was a witness to the several meetings between Naidu and Modi government and to the fact that the State was offered more funds than what it would have got under SCS.