VIJAYAWADA: TDP supremo and Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday accused the State government of weakening gram panchayats by diverting the Finance Commission funds meant for them for other purposes.
Finding fault with the YSRC government for suppressing the voice of sarpanches, who sought a better deal irrespective of their political affiliations, Naidu said it was evident with the registration of cases against them.
He demanded that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government credit Rs 8,700 crore and diverted funds of the 14th and 15th Finance Commission into the accounts of panchayats to enable them to take up development works.
Recalling that Rs 36,000 crore of the 14th Finance Commission and the MGNREGA funds were given to panchayats during the previous TDP regime, Naidu said several development works were taken up in villages with the funds. The previous TDP regime also ensured that the sarpanches enjoyed their constitutional rights. Now, the YSRC government was treating panchayat sarpanches as beggars, he alleged.
The TDP supremo suggested that the YSRC governments credit the diverted Finance Commission funds into the accounts of panchayats and also withdraw the cases against sarpanches to rectify its lapses.
CM adopting destructive politics: TDP ex-minister
TDP politburo member and former minister Nakka Anand Babu on Saturday alleged that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was deliberately adopting destructive politics and taking repressive measures against farmers as he had come to a conclusion that he could not develop the capital Amaravati.
Speaking to media persons at the TDP headquarters, Anand Babu said Jagan started highlighting his three-capital proposal unable to digest the good response to Maha Padayatra of Amaravati farmers from the people. “It is really shameful that all the ministers are blindly accepting the decisions taken by Jagan,” he remarked.