Strange are the ways of YSR Congress party led by former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
On one hand, it doesn’t want to antagonise the top Bharatiya Janata Party leadership at the Centre, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but it has to attack the Telugu Desam Party led by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, which is an alliance partner of the BJP.
This contradictory stand was exposed in the party’s reaction to the Union budget presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman on Saturday.
While welcoming the union budget for its pro people initiatives, YSRCP has slammed Chandrababu Naidu for not mounting pressure on the Centre to get benefits to the state.
Speaking to media, former finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy said Naidu had praised the Centre in tweet for the budget unmindful of the variation vis-à-vis Bihar which has a fewer number of seats.
Though the Union budget outlay has crossed Rs 50 lakh crore for the first time, Chandrababu Naidu should explain why Bihar with 12 MPs could get more sops and TDP with 16 MPS lagged behind.
The TDP government made the same mistake on Polavaram dam height and it was put in the budget that the revised cost is for completion which puts the state at a disadvantage and repeat of 2017 mistake, he said.
While Bihar could get infrastructure, institutions and projects, why was not pressure mounted to get more sops to the state.
There are four ports in state and no allocations for further development, he said adding that the remark of Chandrababu Naidu on the decrease of per capita income will scare the industrialists who would be willing to invest in the state.
The coalition government should put pressure on getting more projects and aid, as the MPs from the State matter for the Centre in this term, he said
Buggana said the Centre was following the Jagan Mohan Reddy model in promoting medical education.
The Centre is harping on medical education and we stand to lose the number of medical seats with the coalition government not taking forward the initiative.
He also praised the Centre for introducing the reforms in education sector, as was done by the Jagan government.
“The union budget has a reflection of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government’s priorities like in education, medical and agriculture sectors,” he said.
