VIJAYAWADA: As the state government is contemplating releasing a white paper on the funds provided by the Union government post bifurcation, the BJP leaders have brought out a 17-page document they are calling their white paper on the support provided to Andhra Pradesh.
In a press meet held in New Delhi on Friday, BJP national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao and party’s AP president K Hari Babu said the TDP leaders deliberately distorted the facts pertaining to the support provided by the Centre. In the document titled “The Implementation of AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, and the support of the Central Government to Andhra Pradesh: The real picture”, all the details of the assistance provided so far were mentioned, they said.
“It (the document) has all the details down to the last paisa we have spent or allocated for AP’s development,” Narasimha Rao said.
However, the document did not have any mention of the revenue deficit issue, which is one of the major bones of contention between the State and Centre.
Hari Babu claimed that the Centre has cleared project proposals worth over Rs 1 lakh crore for the State. “Be it the projects related to the national highway or housing, we have approved the proposals over Rs 1 lakh crore. The funds will be released as and when there is a progress in the works... More funds will be released as and when required,” he said, adding the time frame to implement the AP Reorganisation Act was 10 years. He stated that the propaganda being made by the politicians in the state was far from truth.
The MP from Visakhapatnam mentioned that the State government was able to take up works in capital Amaravati only because the swift environmental clearances by the Union government. “The environmental clearance for Amaravati was given in a record time of less than a month. Otherwise, the entire work of the establishment of the new Capital could have been further delayed,” he added.
The BJP leaders averred that the heart of the political leadership in the Union Council of Ministers is with the people of Andhra Pradesh. “We have delivered more than what was promised and we will continue doing so,” they concluded.
Raging issue
In a 17 page document, BJP says it has detailed out every penny allocated to Andhra Pradesh for development
The BJP state president said the Centre has cleared project proposals worth over Rs 1 lakh crore for the State
Interestingly, the document did not have any mention of the revenue deficit issue