VIJAYAWADA : TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu has strongly criticised Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for ‘mortgaging’ the State Secretariat building. In a post on X, Naidu stated that the YSRC government had mortgaged the Secretariat building for a staggering Rs 370 crore.
Describing it as a disgrace for the State and for Jagan, he asked what does it signify to mortgage the very building where the CM conducts the affairs of the State? He asserted that Jagan has not only put up the building as collateral, but also the self-esteem of Telugu people.
Alleging that Jagan destroyed the excellent brand of Andhra Pradesh, Naidu urged the people to assess the losses incurred under an incompetent, arrogant and destructive regime.
Meanwhile, TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh also took to X to express his shock at the revelation that the YSRC government, which has already accumulated debts of Rs 12.5 lakh crore, resorted to mortgaging the Secretariat. Lokesh emphasised that the act of mortgaging the Secretariat for Rs 370 crore represents a significant deterioration, indicating that it goes beyond comparisons with Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. He mentioned that despite economic challenges, Sri Lanka has not compromised the integrity of its governance centre.
Countering the claims of Naidu and his son that the Secretariat was mortgaged for Rs 370 crore, Minister for Water Resources Ambati Rambabu said it was the imagination of TDP’s friendly media.
“It is purely an attempt to divert the attention, and project as if something grave is happening, when no such thing has happened in reality,” he observed. “The people are well aware of such tactics of TDP and will not believe such false propaganda. After the fourth Siddham meeting of the YSRC, the TDP will not have an address in Andhra Pradesh,” he predicted.