Government Adviser (Public Affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy has alleged that Telugu Desam Party president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was repeating allegations against the government only to confuse the public Mr. Naidu’s charge that there was corruption to the tune of ₹ 300 crore in the procurement of ‘108’ and ‘104’ ambulances was one such attempt, he said, adding people, however, would not be carried away by the ‘false campaign.’
Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy disputed the former Chief Minister’s claim that he had introduced 1,800 ambulances during his rule.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy said the TDP president should know that the present State government was known for transparency and corruption-free governance. People saw through his game and rejected him at the hustings. The harassment meted out to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy when he was Opposition leader was still fresh in people’s memory, he added.
‘Welfare agenda’
Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy said despite the State’s economy taking a hit due the COVID-19 pandemic, the government spent over ₹28,000 crore towards welfare schemes. The beneficiaries directly received the amount and the Chief Minister was being hailed by all sections for his transparent governance, he said.
In contrast, what Mr. Naidu left behind was ₹2.54 lakh crore of debts and ₹64,000 crore pending bills, he said.
While Mr. Naidu did not keep his promise of clearing all agricultural loans, the Chief Minister spent ₹10,200 crore for Rythu Bharosa in a span of one year and cleared all pending bills for Aarogyasri, MSMEs and fee reimbursement, he said.