The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday slammed the State government for having wreaked havoc on the Rayalaseema region, which is beyond repair.
The party’s State president D. Purandeswari, who chaired a regional-level meeting at Proddatur here, minced no words in condemning what she termed as the “state-supported plunder” of natural resources, going retrograde in industrial development and turning a blind eye towards public infrastructure.
Ms. Purandeswari expressed her displeasure particularly over the alleged diversion of funds sanctioned by the Centre for purposes other than intended. “The Central government, believing in ‘Sab ka saath, Sab ka vikas’, munificently supported Andhra Pradesh, but the State Government has no qualms in diverting the same towards its own schemes. Even the 14th and 15th Finance Commission funds sanctioned by the Centre to the panchayats have been diverted, rendering the sarpanches incapable of achieving any ground-level development,” she said.
On the decades-old demand for Gundrevula project and Siddheswaram weir, she lambasted the successive State Governments for not fulfilling the region’s aspirations and letting down the people with false promises. “The Kadapa steel plant, housing for all and compensation to Gandikota project evacuees still remain a distant dream, while the Annamayya project disaster is attributed solely to indiscriminate sand mining.”
The Centre established a mega solar park at Orvakal and sanctioned funds generously towards development of national highways, but the State government failed to do its bit in making the benefit reach the public.
“The government has thrown the prohibition promise to the wind and is bent on increasing revenue from liquor, which is a regressive step,” she said.
Terming drip irrigation as the elixir for the arid Rayalaseema region, Rajya Sabha Member C.M. Ramesh said not even a single acre got drip equipment material in the State ever since the YSR Congress Party government took over the reins of the State, despite the Centre providing 65% subsidy for the same. BJP national executive member N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and former minister C. Adinarayana Reddy took part.
