BJP Rajya Sabha member G.V.L. Narasimha Rao said on Wednesday that his party was of the opinion that bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh had indeed been done in an undemocratic manner, and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was extending maximum financial assistance to the State.
It was to gloss over their failures that the regional parties, the YSRCP and the TDP, had launched a misinformation campaign against the Central government, Mr. Rao said, claiming that the Center had disbursed ₹77,538 crore in 2020-21 compared to ₹27,990 crore in 2015-16.
Besides, grants amounting to ₹40,000 crore were given to the State. “No State has got as much funding from the Center in the last six years,” he asserted.
Mr. Rao was addressing an interactive session on the Union Budget 2022-23 organised by the BJP here.
Mr. Rao said payment of taxes to the Center by Andhra Pradesh was relatively low due to the revenue deficit, but it was never discriminated against on any ground.
The BJP would expose the failures of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government on the basis of comprehensive data pertaining to the funds devolved by the Center to A.P., he said, demanding that Finance Minister B. Rajendranath Reddy explain the factual position of the State’s finances.
BJP State president Somu Veerraju said the Central government laid a strong foundation for the development of the successor State of A.P., which was partly evident from Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s commitment to invest ₹3 lakh crore in the road sector by the end of 2024.
While former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had failed in constructing the capital city, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy made a complete mess of it by mooting three capitals.
I.Y.R. Krishna Rao, former Chief Secretary, said, if one were to know how not to prepare a budget, the State budget should be looked at so that some valuable lessons could be learnt.
Fiscal profligacy
He pointed out that the State was steeped in a debt of ₹57,000 crore, and AP had become synonymous with fiscal profligacy. People should remember that whatever was spent on welfare did not come out of the Chief Minister’s pockets, Mr. Krishna Rao said, suggesting that the burden ultimately would fall on the taxpayers.
BJP State vice-president C. Adinarayana Reddy, general secretary S. Vishnuvardhan Reddy, senior journalist D. Srinivasa Rao and party’s media in-charge Lakshmipathi Raja were among those present.
