VIJAYAWADA: Alleging that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was throwing challenges by giving false information, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu demanded that the former should tender an apology or resign for misleading the House. He also said the TDP would move a privilege motion against the Chief Minister in the Assembly.
“The Chief Minister remarked that interest-free loans were not given during the TDP regime and challenged me to resign. By the time I came to the House with evidence to place the facts before the House on the issue, the Assembly was adjourned and the Chief Minister left the House,’’ Naidu said.
Speaking to the media at Mangalagiri on Thursday after the House was adjourned for the day, Naidu said that despite the fact that interest-free loan scheme to farmers was started during the regime of former Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and the TDP government continued it, Jagan made the challenge out of ignorance. “The Chief Minister does not have knowledge of the subject and he is not ready to learn. The Chief Minister, ministers and the YSRC MLAs are showing their high-handedness and hurling objectionable words at me and the other TDP MLAs,’’ the TDP chief alleged.
Asserting that he has evidence on the money spent by the TDP government, he said `979.45 crore was spent on interest-free loans and `25.14 crore on Pavala Vaddi loans. He said that `507 crore remained pending for 2017-18 and the claims related to 2018-19 were yet to come.
In support of his claim, Naidu released three documents, including a letter to the SLBC convenor by the then Special Commissioner (Agriculture) D Muralidhar Reddy on May 20, 2018 for continuation of the Vaddi Leni Runalu (interest-free loans) and Pavala Vaddi loans (25 NP) till 2018-19 and issuing necessary guidelines for the same.
Naidu also released another document with details of release of funds for interest-free loans and Pavala Vaddi Runalu till 2015-16.