VIJAYAWADA: BJP Rajya Sabha member YS Chowdary (Sujana Chowdary) exuded confidence that simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections (one nation, one poll) would be held in 2023. He said by then, the regional parties would slowly fade away.
In an informal interaction with the media here on Thursday, the MP was answering a question on how the saffron party plans to strengthen itself as a serious contender in Andhra Pradesh, said, “By the time simultaneous polls are held, regionalism will go and nationalism will spread across the country. Even now, there is no regional party that is good. In a democracy, there should be a strong opposition party, but in the future such parties will not be those which are dynastic.”
To a follow-up question on when the simultaneous polls were expected to happen, Sujana said, “2023.” He added that BJP would strengthen itself in both the Telugu speaking States by grooming competent and committed leaders by then.
Sharing his views on the recent meeting of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy with Union Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah, Sujana slammed the YSRC chief for presenting a ‘baseless’ representation seeking financial support from the Centre.
“There is no basis to the requests made in the representation. Jagan is doing the same mistake his predecessor, N Chandrababu Naidu, had done by seeking funds without any basis,” he noted. The MP also claimed that the `18,969 crore sought towards revenue deficit was also not substantiated.
To a query on the Centre’s stand on the reverse tendering of Polavaram project, the former Union minister said, “The Centre is not happy with the process followed by AP. The State’s decision to call a single tender for hydel power plant and irrigation works is like clubbing a government house (irrigation component) and a private house (power plant as APGENCO is spending on it).”
He reiterated that the Special Category Status for AP, one of the main points in the representation given by Jagan, was a closed chapter, and that the Centre’s offer of special package still stands. “But, the State has to communicate its stand on it. The State can avail the funds if it sends proposals of projects that could be taken up under Externally Aided Projects (EAPs). The Centre can then accommodate them in some or the other scheme. So far, we have not received any request on the issue,” he added.
Sujana, however, clarified that the Centre was ready to treat Andhra Pradesh as a special case and hand-hold it if the State seeks financial assistance within the purview of the promises made during bifurcation.
Rebutting the allegations that the Centre failed to implement all the provisions of AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, he demanded that the State government release a white paper on what was left.
The BJP MP also took potshots at TDP supremo Naidu claiming that the latter made wrong choices. “He made friends with a party which has no stakes here (Congress), and fought with the BJP which had much lesser stakes. In this process, he forgot about YSRC, which swept the polls,” he quipped.