Will probe projects, schemes of Naidu govt, says Jagan

NEW DELHI: Promising a corruption-free government in Andhra Pradesh, chief minister-designate Jaganmohan Reddy on Sunday said he would initiate a probe into alleged financial irregularities in the construction of new state capital Amaravati, the Polavaram project and other schemes launched by his predecessor Chandrababu Naidu.
He said a white paper would be released after reviewing the work of each department in the state.
Reddy, who will take oath as chief minister on May 30, was in the capital to meet PM Narendra Modi who will also be sworn in the same day. He also met BJP chief Amit Shah.
He discussed the issue of special category status and financial help to the Rs 2.58 lakh crore debt-ridden state with Modi and Shah. In media interviews, Reddy, however, said it was up to the PM to decide on the special category status.
The YSRCP chief said he would take oath alone and his cabinet would be in place in a week or 10 days. He said his priority would be to implement his party’s poll promise of “nine large-scale welfare programmes”.
Asked if his government would probe alleged irregularities in the construction of the new state capital and other schemes launched by the previous government, Reddy said, “It is a Catch 22 situation. We have to look into the scams... These are not ordinary scams. They are going to be sensational scams.”
He accused Naidu of misleading people about the place where the new capital would come up in order to buy himself land at lower rates. “This is an inside story. This is something like insider trading. He (Naidu) has bought vast expanses of benami land. This scam does not stop there. He forced people to sell under land pooling and exempted his own benami land,” Reddy said, adding that he had nothing personal against Naidu.
On the Polavaram dam project on Godavari river, he said, “We will probe if there was any scam in implementation… this project has to be completed as per the timeline and there is no other option.”