VIJAYAWADA: Swachhandhra Corporation Chairman Kommareddy Pattabhi Ram has said that the coalition government has no lessons to learn from YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on development, stressing that the vision behind the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) continues to guide growth in the region.
Addressing the media at NTR Bhavan on Sunday, he recalled that the government issued GO No. 207 on September 22, 2015, creating the CRDA and laying the foundation for the development of Vijayawada, Machilipatnam, Guntur and surrounding areas.
Pattabhi Ram explained that the CRDA was never confined itself to Amaravati city alone but covered a vast area of around 8,350 sq.km, including six municipal corporations, six municipalities and peripheral rural mandals stretching from Mopidevi near Machilipatnam to Jaggaiahpet and Phirangipuram beyond Guntur.
He questioned why Jagan Mohan Reddy attempted to scrap the CRDA Act in 2020 if he truly cared about regional growth, noting that only after the High Court’s intervention did he retreat from his three-capitals plan.
He also criticised the YSRCP for misleading people by confusing legislative resolutions with bills. “A resolution is only an opinion, while a bill becomes law. Amaravati’s capital status was secured through Parliament’s amendment to the Reorganisation Act,” he said.
Turning to Jagan’s recent proposal to rename the capital ‘Mavigun,’ Pattabhi Ram dismissed it as a comedy piece, remarking that development is no laughing matter.
Highlighting the coalition government’s balanced approach, he pointed to major investments in North Andhra, renewable energy and automobile projects in Rayalaseema, and the upcoming High Court bench in Kurnool.