BJP Rajya Sabha member and former Union Minister Y.S. Chowdary on Tuesday blamed the erstwhile TDP Government for the delay in grounding certain projects in Andhra Pradesh which were funded by the Central government during the first stint of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr. Chowdary was speaking at an interactive programme organised by Vizag Development Council and A.P. Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation here on Tuesday. BJP MP and Parliamentary Standing Committee member on Transport, Tourism and Culture T.G. Venkatesh and former MP and BJP national executive member K. Haribabu were present.
Chambers of Commerce president G. Sambasiva Rao, VDC vice-president O. Naresh Kumar and representatives from CII, Vizagapatam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Air Travellers’ Association, Tour and Travellers’ Association of AP, Seafood Exporters’ Association of India and others raised their concern over issues delaying various projects sanctioned for A.P. in general and Visakhapatnam in particular.
‘Brand Modi’
Mr. Chowdary said the regional parties had lost their relevance and mentioned how TDP stormed to power after its formation by N.T. Rama Rao in 1983 due to strong ‘anti-Congressism’ and regional aspirations of Telugus. “Now, people are getting elected due to Brand Modi and his bold decisions like integrating the entire country for the first time by abrogating Article 370,” he said, calling for the need to enrol more ‘talented people’ from the industry and other fields into the BJP.
Both Mr. Chowdary and Mr. Venkatesh promised to take a delegation of representatives from Vizag to the concerned Union Ministers for developing Ease of Doing Business and expediting sanction/ approvals of pending projects. Mr. Chowdary said that the research complex of National Institute of Oceanography, for which he as Minister of State for Science and Technology during NDA-I coalition, had laid the foundation stone, had not yet been grounded due to failure of the State Government in sorting out issues relating to allotment of land.