Allegations of Stalled Housing Initiatives
Tadepalli (Andhra Pradesh), Oct 4 — YSR Congress Party Ponnur constituency coordinator Ambati Murali Krishna on Sunday criticized the TDP-led coalition government in Andhra Pradesh for failing to complete houses started during Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s tenure.
Murali Krishna stated that the current administration should finish these existing projects before claiming credit for providing homes to the poor. He cited figures from the previous administration, noting that during Jagan’s time in office, the government provided house sites to 31.19 lakh families and established 17,005 YSR Jagananna Colonies.
According to Murali Krishna, the previous government sanctioned 22,80,358 houses and completed more than nine lakh of them. He alleged that the present government had not built a single new house in the past two and a half years and had left around 11 lakh houses at various stages of construction unfinished.
He further alleged that the TDP filed more than 1,000 court cases to stop the distribution of house-site pattas. Murali Krishna said Jagan went to the Supreme Court and secured relief to distribute them. He also alleged that in Amaravati, the government went to court over pattas for 50,000 poor families and later cancelled them, denying those families a place to live.
Drought Concerns and Agricultural Demands
Addressing agricultural issues, Murali Krishna questioned why the state’s drought situation was not raised at a meeting attended by Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He noted that 388 of the state’s 688 mandals have been declared drought-affected, including those in Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s constituency, Kuppam.
Murali Krishna demanded answers from the administration regarding minimum support prices for several key crops. Specifically, he listed paddy, cotton, maize, red gram, green gram, and black gram as commodities requiring immediate price clarity for farmers.
Challenges to Government Inquiry
The comments followed a call by Minister Nadendla Manohar for an inquiry into alleged housing irregularities. Murali Krishna responded that the YSRCP was ready for any investigation but challenged the government to also investigate the rice issue in Kakinada.
Local Body Elections and Rural Economy
On the subject of upcoming local body elections, Murali Krishna stated that the party was not opposing the process itself. Instead, he emphasized the need for accurate voter lists with clarity on deceased voters and bogus votes to ensure a fair electoral environment.
Concluding his address, Murali Krishna highlighted that rural economies were under strain due to farmers struggling to get fair prices and declining welfare payments, requiring immediate government attention.