Union Budget a ‘disappointment’ for Andhra Pradesh, say ruling YSRCP MPs and Opposition leaders

The Budget contains nothing related to the assurances given at the time of State bifurcation and a host of other issues, despite several appeals made by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard, say YSRCP MPs  

The ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and the opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh have described the Union Budget-2023 as a ‘big disappointment’ from the State’s perspective. 

YSRCP MPs P.V. Midhun Reddy, Margani Bharat and Mopidevi Venkataramana, who were in New Delhi, said that the Union Budget was a ‘disappointment for Andhra Pradesh’ as it contained nothing related to the assurances given at the time of State bifurcation and a host of other issues, despite several appeals made by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard. 

They expressed regret that the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 was brushed under the carpet. The Budget neither has a mention of the Special Category Status (SCS), which the State has been demanding for a long time, nor the funds required for the construction of Polavaram irrigation project. 

The MPs further said that the proposed steel plant in Kadapa district was another thing that was ‘conspicuous by its absence’ from the Budget document.  The YSRCP will raise the injustice meted out to Andhra Pradesh in the current session of Parliament, the MPs said, while saying that they were not upset with the significant allocations made to neighbouring Karnataka.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national spokesperson K. Pattabhi Ram appreciated the Union Budget from a national perspective, but said that he was was disappointed from a State’s perspective. The budget proposals were common-man friendly, he said.

“The new slab and increasing the rebate limit to ₹7 lakh from ₹5 lakh have reduced the tax burden on the common man. The Union government’s efforts to promote and allocate funds for green energy are laudable. However, the allocations to Andhra Pradesh is zero,” he said.

Jana Sena Party Political Affairs Committee chairman Nadendla Manohar welcomed the tax exemption to individuals with annual incomes less than ₹7 lakh and the changes in slabs under the new income tax regime.