BJP State president Somu Veerraju has objected to the comments being made by the Ministers and other YSRCP leaders on the Special Category Status (SCS), devolution of funds, and development initiatives in Andhra Pradesh, and has challenged them to participate in an open debate on the issues.
Addressing the media in Kurnool on the sidelines of the two-day training programme for the party leaders representing all the districts, which included the proposed ones, Mr. Veerraju said that the BJP and the Jana Sena Party (JSP) would together dethrone the YSRCP government in the State in the 2024 elections.
“If the BJP-JSP government is formed in the State, special package / funds will be allocated for the development of Rayalaseema,” Mr. Veerraju said.
“The BJP-led government at the Centre is bearing the entire cost of the Polavaram project and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been allocating funds out of special interest for Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
Terming the ‘Rayalaseema Ranabheri’ organised in Kadapa on Saturday a grand success, Mr. Veerraju said the YSRCP and the TDP leaders were repeatedly talking about the SCS only for political gain. He dared the Ministers and the Chief Whip to come for a debate on the points raised by them.
Displaying a newspaper report in which former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had said that the “State could achieve more benefits with the special package rather than the SCS,” Mr. Veerraju said the Centre was taking special care of the needs of Andhra Pradesh. All the welfare schemes under Navaratnalu were being run with the funds provided under different Centrally-sponsored schemes, he claimed.
Funds for railway, road projects
All the road projects being executed in the State were taken up with the ₹65,000-crore Central funds. Another ₹65,000 crore was given for the railway projects in the State, the BJP leader said.
“The State government is not in a position to utilise the funds being given under various schemes,” he alleged. Seven projects were sanctioned for Andhra Pradesh alone, along with a green energy corridor.
The Centre had given ₹32,000 crore for housing scheme, but the State government did not bother to develop the irrigation projects in Rayalaseema, he said.
Those who attended the training programme included party’s national general secretary D. Purandeswari, national executive member K. Lakshminarayana, national joint general secretary (organisational) Neelakanth, State vice-president Chandramouli, and district president Polanki Ramaswamy.
