People are wondering why Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting the State, particularly after “deceiving it” and being “unfaithful to it” all these years, Energy Minister and TDP State president K. Kala Venkata Rao has said.
Mr. Rao, in an open letter to the Prime Minister, accused the BJP of developing friendship with YSRCP president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who had spent 16 months in jail.
“Mr. Modi has treated Andhra Pradesh worse than the rival countries, but is making tall claims of extending maximum assistance to it,” Mr. Rao alleged.
‘Broken promises’
Mr. Modi had broken the promise on according Special Category Status (SCS). He gave a pittance for the construction of the capital city, Amaravati. On the contrary, the Prime Minister released thousands of crores of rupees for the development of Dholera city in Gujarat, construction of the Ahmedabad Convention Centre, and installation of the statues of Sardar Patel and Sivaji, he said.
What prompted the Centre to take back the ₹350 crore given to the backward districts? he asked. The Central government was supposed to provide ₹24,350 crore, but gave only ₹1,050 crore, he added.
Besides, the Centre filed affidavits in the Supreme Court stating its reluctance to clear the Kadapa steel plant and Visakhapatnam railway zone on the ground that they were not feasible.
Jagan cases
The inquiry into the charges of corruption against Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy was confined to discharge petitions and the actual investigation into the 11 charge-sheets filed by the CBI was yet to begin, he said.