Naidu and Jagan frittered away chance to develop the State, says Y.S. Sharmila

Naidu and Jagan frittered away chance to develop the State, says Y.S. Sharmila. While the former Chief Minister left the farmers who parted with their lands for the capital project in the lurch, his successor proposed three capitals as a part of his government’s decentralisation move but failed to set up even one, alleges the APCC chief. The BJP too contributed its part in betraying the State, she says. Special Category Status (SCS) is the panacea for all the existing problems of the State, she adds.

Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Y. S. Sharmila on April 25 (Thursday) said that development continued to elude the State even 10 years after bifurcation of the State. She blamed the TDP and the YSRCP for it.

Addressing a public meeting at Ranigarithota in Vijayawada city, Ms. Sharmila slammed TDP national president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for “doing nothing more than deceiving the people of the State.”

Mr. Naidu had made tall claims that he would develop a new capital on the lines of Singapore and made many trips abroad stating that international experts were being roped in for the project, and left 35,000 farmers in the lurch after procuring their lands for the proposed capital. In the name of development, Mr. Naidu only built a few temporary structures from where the government had been functioning.

His successor Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy spoke about establishing three capitals as part of his government’s decentralisation move, but failed to establish even one so far, she said.

Ms. Sharmila said that the BJP contributed its part in betraying the State. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who brought soil from the Parliament complex and water from the Yamuna for Andhra Pradesh’s new capital Amaravati while laying the foundation stone for the project, did not bother to fulfil his promise of helping the State recover from the bifurcation jolt,” she alleged.

People here were promised development, prosperity and happiness, and jobs for local youth. While the neighbouring States were making rapid strikes in development, we were left with a begging bowl in our hands, she said.

The APCC chief further said that the Special Category Status (SCS) was the panacea for all the existing problems of the State, and yet none of the ruling parties tried enough to achieve it.