Telugu Desam Party (TDP) State president K. Atchannaidu said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was showering affection on the elected representatives of his party as elections were fast approaching, and that people would not forget the misuse of ₹8,600 crore belonging to the Gram Panchayats (GPs).
“Sarpanches of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) who raised their voice against the diversion of funds, were roughed up by the police and some of them were implicated in false cases to silence them,” the TDP leader alleged.
In a press release on Monday, Mr. Atchannaidu said the Chief Minister was effusive in his praise of the elected representatives of the YSRCP at a meeting held in the city as he was aware of the key role they would have to play in shaping the opinion of the electorate right from the grassroots-level in the run-up to the general elections.
“But, requests made by the same YSRCP representatives to release funds devolved by the Central government for the development of their villages were being disregarded as the government was in no position to discharge its financial obligations due to its ineptitude,” Mr. Atchannaidu observed.
Mr. Atchannaidu said the YSRCP government was “anti-poor” and had diverted a sum of ₹1.14 lakh crore that was allocated for SC, ST, BC and minority sub-plans. “Gross injustice was meted to the BCs and the ‘Navaratnalu’ schemes are mostly confined to rhetoric. People are being misled by the Chief Minister on his government’s dismal performance. He is bent on garnering votes by hook or crook,” Mr. Atchannaidu added.
