VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy took strong exception to the manner in which the TDP members behaved when Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan addressed the joint session of the Assembly and Council.
Jagan said though Opposition Leader N Chandrababu Naidu was not present in the House, he let his son and MLC Nara Lokesh and others act like “anti-social elements”.
In his reply to the discussion on Motion of Thanks on Governor’s address in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, he said the condemnable manner in which the TDP legislators and council members behaved during the Governor’s address was nothing but an insult to the State Assembly.
“They forgot that the Governor is the Constitutional Head of the State and he is an elderly person aged 87. They nearly attacked him, raising slogans like ‘Governor go back’. They continued their unprincipled behaviour outside, in the lobby. The Governor is apolitical and the first citizen of the State. He was insulted in such a manner, which was unprecedented and very objectionable. We too were in the Opposition, but never acted in such a manner,” Jagan pointed out.
Jagan, in his nearly 90-minute speech, criticised TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and the previous TDP regime led by him, point by point. Reiterating that the good governance of his government has been reflected in every election after 2019, Jagan said the mandate has been an endorsement to the misrule of the previous TDP regime and the welfare measures of the State government. He said YSRC has cornered 12 municipal corporations, 13 Zilla Parishads, 86 per cent of MPTC, 98 per cent of ZPTC, 98.6 per cent of MPP seats.
‘Stark difference’
Drawing a comparison of his government’s 34-months rule with earlier the five years of TDP regime and TDP chief’s earlier stint as the Chief Minister, Jagan said there is not a single aspect, where the TDP has succeeded in gaining the people’s trust. However, the YSRC government has fulfilled 95 per cent of the promises in the election manifesto. “Be it education, health, village administration, women empowerment, there is a visible change,” he said. Jagan said while his government has given importance to revival and strengthening of the government schools, the TDP government has strived to close the government schools. “Under Nadu-Nedu, we have improved the infrastructure in government schools and revamped them with English as medium of instruction. Our efforts saw to it that even during the Covid pandemic, the rate of admissions in government schools was far more than private schools. As many as six lakh students have shifted from private schools to government schools,” Jagan asserted.
He said the stark difference between the two governments can be seen in every village. Besides village secretariats, catering to the needs of every 2,000 people in a village, there is a revamped government school where students in neat uniforms go to get educated in English medium. “Just take four steps and one will find YSR village clinics under construction, RBKs for the benefit of farmers, digital libraries, foundation schools at Anganwadis,” he said.
Stating that Naidu, who speaks of ‘vision’, has no vision or concern for people, he said for decentralised administration, they are reorganising the districts. “Interestingly even Naidu has been asking us to make Kuppam, his constituency, as a revenue division while his brother-in-law Nandamuri Balakrishna has been asking us to make his constituency Hindupur district headquarters,” he said. He said rolling out welfare schemes on saturation mode has been the strong point of his government while people were at the mercy and corruption levels of the Janmabhoomi Committees earlier.
Reeling out the list of welfare schemes initiated by his government in the last 34 months, catering to every sector, he said Naidu cannot even claim to have implemented even a single such scheme. The TDP government left behind massive liabilities, indulged in financial indiscipline whereas his government has been distributing every rupee to the intended beneficiaries through DBT schemes. Later, the motion, moved by Chief Whip G Srikanth Reddy, was adopted by voice vote.