VIJAYAWADA: Ahead of the Cabinet meeting on Friday, YSRC MLAs and leaders from Guntur and Krishna districts met Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at his camp office and informed him that they will abide by the decision to be taken by the State government on the GN Rao Committee recommendations.
They also expressed hope that no injustice will be done to Krishna and Guntur districts, as being alleged by the Opposition parties.
YSRC leaders say they understand that the government is in favour of GN Rao Committee recommendations on capital and decentralised development, given its poor financial situation.
Speaking to media persons at the CM’s camp office in Tadepalle after the meeting, Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu said there is no need for the farmers in the capital region to worry, as the government will not do injustice to any of them.
“The government is contemplating constituting a committee to study how to develop a city in the 33,000 acres given by the farmers in the Amaravati region. A final decision will be taken only after considering their opinion,” he said.
The MLA maintained that the government has not enough money to develop a capital city at a single place, investing lakhs of crores, “Jagan has not resorted to any revenge politics or selfish agenda. If it was the case, he would have proposed the capital in Rayalaseema or Donakonda,” he said.
He also lashed out at TDP and its chief N Chandrababu Naidu for their “double standards” and pointed out that the TDP MLAs in Visakhapatnam welcomed the proposal to shift the executive capital. He blamed the TDP chief for cheating farmers of Amaravati and demanded to know with what face he is visiting them.
Sattenapalle MLA Ambati Rambabu said they have met to discuss the development in the aftermath of the GN Rao’s committee recommendations. “TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu as Chief Minister has developed only a temporary capital in the five years he was in power, spending Rs 5,500 crore.
To develop capital city according to those plans, it requires Rs 1.10 lakh crore. Given the financial situation of the State, is the government in a position to spend such a huge amount at a single place, at the cost of development of other places? The answer is no,” Ambati Rambabu said.
Penamaluru MLA K Parthasarathy, Mylavaram MLA Vasantha Venkata Krishna Prasad and Vemuru MLA Merugu Nagarjuna said given the financial situation, it is not advisable to spend Rs 1.10 lakh crore at a single place.
Understanding the pros and cons of the issue, the State government is focusing on decentralised development, giving priority to equal development of all regions, irrigation, education, health and employment generation.
The government is serious about developing the Vijayawada-Guntur region as an industrial and IT hub, they said.