Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday challenged Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to a debate on his oft-repeated charge that the Modi government did not implement the provisions of the A.P. Reorganisation Act in letter and spirit.
Polavaram project
“Mr. Naidu is spreading canards against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP to divert the attention of the people from his corrupt practices in the execution of the Polavaram and other projects,” Mr. Goyal told the media here.
He said: “I invite Mr. Naidu to Delhi at his convenience and time for the debate. I shall expose his lies, as I have all the facts and figures at my command.”
Mr. Goyal alleged that the TDP government increased the project cost five fold, and that exposed large-scale corruption in its execution.
Describing Mr. Naidu’s family as a “private limited company,” Mr. Goyal said the time had come for the people to throw Mr. Naidu out of power.
Revenue deficit
The Centre had given ₹17,500 crore to the State as special package, and it was twice the money it would have otherwise got under the Special Category Status (SCS). The Centre would meet the ₹22,500 crore revenue deficit of the State, he added.
Stating that the Centre had signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the State government for the establishment of a steel plant in Kadapa, Mr. Goyal said the Naidu government performed “bhumi puja” for the project in a hurried manner ahead of the elections only to fool the people.
‘U-turn Babu’
Referring to the Assembly resolution that there was “no difference between SCS and special package,” he described Mr. Naidu as “U-turn Babu.”
Mr. Naidu had even thanked the Centre for offering ₹17,500 crore as special package, he sought to remind.
Mr. Goyal also questioned why Mr. Naidu was averse to setting up a SPV (special purpose vehicle) for disbursement of funds and overseeing the projects. He also listed out the projects that were sanctioned to the State, which were beyond the ones mentioned in the Act.