Telugu Desam Party (TDP) senior leader and Member of Legislative Assembly Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary has urged the Union Government to “rescue Andhra Pradesh from the deepening financial crisis, steep price rise, and impending bankruptcy.”
Addressing the media on Tuesday, Mr. Butchaiah Chowdary said the Centre should take immediate action based on the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the “high-interest loans and gross financial mismanagement by the State government.”
Andhra Pradesh’s debt had risen to ₹7.76 lakh crore, he said. The government was not able to pay salaries and pensions on time, he added.
Payment of thousands of crores was not being made to the contractors, as a consequence of which they were unwilling to take up new works, the TDP leader said.
“Even the pandemic has been used to raise loans and the Central funds have been diverted. The Governor should stop giving his approval for loans considering the misuse of ₹45,000 crore public funds by the YSRCP government,” Mr. Butchaiah Chowdary said.
Power cuts
As was the experience in Sri Lanka, the prices of fuel, edible oil and essential commodities had risen steeply in Andhra Pradesh too. In addition to this, power cuts dealt a blow to the common man and the industry, he said.
Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s “vengeful and corrupt policies” pushed the power sector into a crisis, he alleged.
The State government had mismanaged the PPAs and coal supplies, which led to a situation where it had to buy power at ₹18 per unit, the TDP leader alleged. The people would soon face a “dark and uncertain future” if the YSRCP government was not stopped from destroying the State’s economy, Mr. Butchaiah Chowdary warned.
