TDP TERMS BJP'S LIST OF CLAIM OF CENTRAL AID TO AP AS 'CINEMA SCRIPT'

Vijayawada: TD denounced BJP’s claims regarding the financial support extended to the state. On Sunday, it released an 8-page draft report prepared by the TD Party Knowledge Centre presenting facts countering BJP’s claims. 

In its claims, the BJP mentioned that Rs 3,979.5 crore had been allocated towards covering the state’s revenue deficit and also committed to allocating Rs 22,113 crore to the state by 2020. But until now the balance amount is not released and the Centre is stating issuing of Rs 120 crore only. 

The TD said that Rs 3,500 had been committed by the Centre towards the construction of the capital city, but only Rs 1,500 crore had been released. The party said that though the BJP claimed that the Union government had allocated Rs 1,500 crore towards the construction of four smart cities, not a single rupee had been released. The TD countered the BJP on 25 issues regarding Budget allocations.

The TD is angered by BJP’s 27-page report, which it believes is misguiding the public. The TD leaders asked Mr Hari Babu whe-ther AP was part of the country or not as the BJP is claiming Doordarshan and passport offices were given to the state after bifurcation which the TD said is a mandate when a new state is formed. 

In its 8-page draft report, the TD also mentioned that the state needed Rs 42,935 crore for the construction of the Raj Bhavan, the Secretariat, the High Court, the Assembly, the Council and other infrastructure for the capital city. It asked whether the Rs 1,500 crore released by the Union government mattered when compared to this requirement. 

For the backward districts of Rayalaseema and northern Andhra, the state had requested Rs 24,350 crore but the BJP-led NDA government had allocated only Rs 1,050 crore, the TD said. 

It added the Union government had yet to approve special assistance measures under EAP project proposals worth Rs 18,857 crore.

It said the BJP had promised to cover the entire cost of the Polavaram project, but it had released only Rs 4,662 crore until then, while Rs 7,900 crore had been spent on the project. It said that Rs 3,500 crore was due to the state by the Union government, for which the state was bearing additional Rs 300 crore as interest. 

The state government allotted land worth Rs 1,000 crore for the establishment of IIT-Tirupati, and the Union government was supposed to allot Rs 700 crore for the construction of the physical structure. 

The TD said that the Cen-tre had released only Rs 90 crore in four years. It added that the state government had allotted land worth tho-usands of crores of rupees for the establishment of an NIT, an IIIT, a Central Un-iversity, an IISER, an IIM, and an Agricultural Univ-ersity, but the Union government had failed to take those projects forward. 

The Union Government committed to spending Rs 100,000 crore on the development of road connectivity under national highways, which the TD countered by saying that AP had been granted the same funds as all other states.

BJP claimed that it would provide Rs 20,000 crore for the construction of the Amaravati Outer Ring Road, but that project is still in the DPR stage. There hasn’t been any notable progress in the Vijayawada - Visakhapatnam metro rail project, and no budget has been allocated for the project for 2018-2019. Similarly, there has been no progress on and no support from the Union Government for the development of the Kakinada Petrochemical Complex, the Kadapa and Rajahmundry Airports, Duggarajapatnam Port, and the Kadapa Steel Plant, and the expansion of the Vizag Steel Plant. 

The state had a surplus of power post-bifurcation, and the state benefited from that surplus, without the assistance of the Union Government. Even in railways they mentioned about the cost estimates and the budget required but hadn't announced any budget on it.