Not Polavaram height, TDP will be cut to size: Jagan
Sharpening his attack on the Opposition and what he called “its friendly media” for falsely propagating that the height of Polavaram project will be decreased, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday said TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu will face complete wipeout of his party at the hustings in 2024.
Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy
Vijayawada: Sharpening his attack on the Opposition and what he called "its friendly media" for falsely propagating that the height of Polavaram project will be decreased, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday said TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu will face complete wipeout of his party at the hustings in 2024.
Stating that Naidu himself will face a humiliating defeat in Kuppam, he while winding up short discussion on Polavaram project in the Assembly blamed the TDP-friendly media for indulging in false propaganda to defame the government over reduction of dam height.
"It is not the height of Polavaram dam but the strength of Chandrababu Naidu (TDP)'s MLAs which was reduced to 23 in the 2019 election. The downslide is continuing in the subsequent elections and the TDP has been cut to size. The same trend will continue and in the 2024 elections the TDP will become completely washed out by losing its so-called stronghold Kuppam," he said.
The Chief Minister has also presented the contrasting pictures of the Polavaram project during the TDP term and now depicting the stark difference. He also poked fun at the numerous inaugurations for commencement of works and extravaganza on publicity and the weekly tours to Polavaram which cost a bomb to the exchequer. Reddy said "we didn't even arrange a single tour to the project but are working hard to meet the deadline, he said and promised to complete the project by Kharif by 2023 without tampering with the dam height. He said the project will be dedicated to YSR by installing his statue at the project site.
Speaking on the project finances, he said that Chandrababu Naidu compromised on Special Category Status (SCS) and agreed to construct Polavaram at 2014 prices for the sake of receiving kickbacks. Although it is declared as a national project, Naidu compromised on the State's interest by accepting the special package. With this, the Centre has agreed to pay only Rs 29,027 crore while the escalated cost was around Rs 55,000 crore.
The Chief Minister said the YSRCP Government is still pursuing with the Centre to get the amount due to Polavaram.
