Continuing his tirade against Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his predecessor N. Chandrababu Naidu for depriving the State of its capital city, BJP State president Somu Veerraju said on Friday that it was unfortunate that both of them left the project unfinished in spite of the release of sizeable funds by the Centre.
It was due to respect for Mr. Naidu that the Central government had supported him in the development of Amaravati, but to no avail as he could not complete it.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy could have carried out the infrastructure works in Amaravati, but he had his own plans that proved to be disastrous.
The BJP-led NDA government gave ₹8,500 crore, including a HUDCO loan of ₹4,000 crore, for the development of Amaravati and another ₹2,000 crore for transforming it into a smart city though it was just a gram panchayat, he said.
“People did not vote for us. Still, we gave ₹8,500 crore for developing Amaravati into a thriving city. Therefore, only the BJP has the right to speak about Amaravati. It will expose their (YSRCP and TDP) misdeeds come what may,” he asserted.
Addressing the media here, Mr. Veerraju said the YSRCP and TDP governments had failed in developing Amaravati and they were blaming the BJP to derive political mileage.
The proposal to have three capitals came as a big blow to the State, which would have progressed at a rapid pace had there been a single capital.
Polavaram project
The YSRCP and TDP governments had also messed up the Polavaram project. It was entrusted to the State during the TDP term, but it was not yet completed after staggering sums had been spent on it.
Both the governments had availed ‘special financial assistance’ given by the Centre in lieu of the Special Category Status (SCS) to some extent, but they keep demanding SCS in a blatant display of double standards.
“The State is currently witnessing blackmail politics,” Mr. Veerraju said, taking objection to what he called portraying the BJP as the villain of the piece.
