VIJAYAWADA: Former Chief Minister and YSRCP President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy criticized the 2025-26 State Budget, calling it misleading and lacking proper financial allocations. He accused Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of manipulating figures and failing to fulfill promises. Announcing a statewide protest on March 12, Jagan said YSRCP would demonstrate at all Collectorates in support of students and parents allegedly neglected by the government.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, Jagan demanded official opposition status for YSRCP, citing Delhi’s precedent where BJP received it despite having only three MLAs. He alleged that the government falsified debt figures to justify unfulfilled promises, claiming the required Rs 79,867 crore for the ‘Super Six’ schemes was missing from the budget.
He pointed out that while the government promised a Rs 3,000 monthly stipend for unemployed youth, no allocation was made. He also criticized the absence of funds for the ‘Aadabidda Nidhi’ scheme, under which women aged 18-59 were promised Rs 18,000 annually, and the free bus scheme, which required Rs 13,112 crore for 87.41 lakh students under ‘Thalliki Vandanam.’
During the press meet, Jagan made controversial remarks against Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan, calling him Chandrababu’s adopted son. Responding to a question about Pawan Kalyan’s suggestion that he should go to Germany for opposition status, Jagan mocked that Pawan couldn’t even win an MLA seat on his own, saying he was “more than a corporator but less than an MLA.”