VIJAYAWADA: Even as the Union Jal Shakti ministry raised objections to the cancellation of tenders of Polavaram project and the Union Power ministry asked the Jagan government to reconsider its decision to review renewable Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), YSRC MP V Vijayasai Reddy on Wednesday claimed that every major decision taken by the State had the approval of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sujana Chowdary, however, refuted the same and wanted to know why the Polavaram Project Authority cautioned the government against retendering, if it had the blessings of Modi and Shah.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, he said, “Any decision of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government was taken after discussing with Modi and Shah. Be it reverse tendering of Polavaram project or the review of PPAs, every major policy decision was thoroughly discussed with the PM.’’
TDP indulged in corruption, YSRC govt will not spare guilty: Vijayasai
Vijayasai Reddy further added that people did not believe the propaganda being carried out by the TDP on the decisions taken by the Jagan government. The previous TDP regime indulged in a large-scale corruption and the YSRC government would not spare those guilty.Vijayasai Reddy’s remarks came at a time when both State and national leaders of the BJP were raising objections over the Jagan government’s move to reconsider several decisions of the Chandrababu Naidu regime.
On the issue of review of PPAs, the Union energy secretary wrote to the government to reconsider its decisions, contending that they would be detrimental to future investments in the State. Similar sentiment was expressed by the Jal Shakti ministry after the State government announced its decision to go for reverse tendering for Polavaram project.
Reacting to Vijayasai Reddy’s remarks, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sujana Chowdary accused the YSRC government of trying to confuse the people of the State by claiming that Jagan had the blessings of the Narendra Modi government. “If you have the approval or the blessings of the PM and the Union Home minister, why would the Jal Shakti ministry ask you not to go for reverse tendering. We have the proof of Jal Shakti ministry expressing reservations over reverse tendering in the form of a letter,’’ Sujana Chowdary said and added that he had seen closely the functioning of the NDA government in the past five years and there was not an instance wherein the Union ministry differed with approvals given by the PM or the Home minister.
On MA&UD Minister Botcha Satyanarayana’s hint of shifting of capital Amaravati, the BJP MP said the issue was entirely a State subject and the Centre was in no way involved in it. “This is completely misleading to say that the proposal to shift Amaravati was also discussed with the Centre. How is the Centre concerned with a State capital? Crores of public money has already been spent and it’s not easy to take a decision on it at this juncture,’’ he observed.
Sujana Chowdary further added that though the State government did not make its stand clear on the capital issue, it’s wrong to say that the Centre gave its approval for its shifting.On the floods that submerged capital Amaravati and parts of Vijayawada, Sujana Chowdary raised doubts over the manner in which the situation was dealt with. “Is it inefficiency on part of the government or there was any conspiracy behind flooding the capital area?’’ he wondered. Reacting to Botcha’s comments, he said it appeared the remarks were “orchestrated” considering the contradictory statement made by another minister Avanthi Srinivas on the issue. “Did the ministers make the comments in their individual capacity?’’ he asked.