TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday accused Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy of taking the State backwards by 30 years with his “retrogressive policies.”
In a statement, the Opposition leader said that in just three years Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy had “destroyed all systems and caused damage to the brand image of Andhra Pradesh beyond repair.”
Citing the example of the tenders called by the government reportedly with a pre-condition that “payment of bills will be made based on the availability of plough back funds, and in the event of a delay in payment, the contracting agency will not have the right to challenge in the court of law, and that only such contractors who can wait till realisation of bills without approaching the courts should bid for the works,” Mr. Naidu said it only reflected the “hopeless situation” the State had landed into.
“How can the government deny the contractors the right to go to the court if their payments are not cleared?” Mr. Naidu questioned.
The government had also lowered its image by asking the contractors executing the Krishna delta repair works not to pressurise it for payment of bills, he said.
Stating that payment of bills worth ₹1.5 lakh crore was pending in the State, the TDP chief said the ruling party leaders should take note of the fact that lakhs of employees were losing jobs in the construction, trade and services sectors due to non-payment of bills by the government.
“How can the government, which is unable to clear bills of works worth ₹13 crore, complete the multi-crore irrigation projects and construct airports, steel plants and other infrastructure it proposes in the three capitals,” Mr. Naidu questioned.
Mr. Naidu said the Chief Minister was doing gross injustice to several generations of the State by shutting down all paths to development through “incoherent policies.”
