VIJAYAWADA: Asserting that his government has implemented 99% of the poll promises despite the severe financial odds, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday said his model of governance will ensure that he comes back to power in the ensuing elections.
“I am confident that we will introduce the full Budget in the State Assembly after three months,” Jagan said exuding confidence.
Replying to the Motion of Thanks on the Governor’s address in the State Assembly, Jagan elaborated on the ‘strained’ financial position of the State at the time he assumed charge as the Chief Minister.
He spoke about the financial burden the State faced due to the pandemic and how the government managed to deliver on its promises despite all the odds.
Dismissing the charges of the Opposition that the State was slipping into an economic crisis similar to the one in Sri Lanka, the Chief Minister explained, “The total debt of the residual State of Andhra Pradesh, which stood at Rs 1,53,000 crore at the time of bifurcation, went to Rs 4,12,288 crore in 2019 when I came to power. Now, the total debt stands at Rs 7,03,000 crore. This means that the rate at which the debt grew during the previous TDP regime was 21.87%, while it is 12.13% during the last five years.”
“The dip in devolution of Central funds and reduced tax revenues during the last five years due to several reasons, including the Covid pandemic, resulted in a revenue loss of Rs 66,116 crore. Despite the odds, the government has excelled in fiscal discipline, debt management, planning and implementation of a slew of welfare schemes transparently,” Jagan asserted.
Flagging the unjust manner in which the State was bifurcated, the Chief Minister pointed out that 50% of the revenue was allocated to Telangana, which had 42% of the total population, while the remaining 50% was allocated to the residual State of Andhra Pradesh with 58% population, further burdening the State with a yearly revenue loss of Rs 13,000 crore.
Lashing out at Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu for making false election promises for political gains, Jagan said, “The State rolled out DBT welfare schemes worth Rs 2,55,000 crore and non-DBT initiatives worth Rs 1,07,000 crore. The previous government, too, had the same budget but it could not deliver welfare. This difference speaks about the commitment of the Chief Ministers then and now.”
Speaker suspends TDP MLAs for a day for creating ruckus
Opposition TDP members were suspended for the day on Tuesday for disrupting the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly. They were demanding a discussion on the spiralling prices of essentials. Speaker Tammineni Sitaram suspended them for throwing papers on the Chair
Naidu copied manifestos of other States: Jagan
Candidly stating that he was finding it difficult to implement the schemes by spending around Rs 70,000 crore annually, he sought to know how Naidu was planning on implementing schemes worth Rs 1,26,000 crore per annum. Referring to the TDP’s promises, Jagan accused the former chief minister of copying the manifestos released in other States and trying to deceive the people with his six guarantees.
Debunking the theory of wealth creation advocated by the TDP, the Chief Minister asked why Naidu failed to do so during his previous tenures.
Asserting that Naidu only pursued the policy of plunder, stash and devour during his rule, Jagan said the TDP chief has been trying to lure people with false promises to cheat them once again. Further, he appealed to people to recollect how Naidu defaulted on the promise to waive loans to the tune of Rs87,612 crore