The YSR Congress Party and former MP V. Aruna Kumar have described the capital construction contract being handed over to Singapore-based companies as a total sell out by the State Government, as the clauses in the agreement are heavily loaded in favour of the foreign firms.
They said the contracts, if allowed, would turn the State as a junior partner with little or no rights in the whole venture. Public Accounts Committee chairman B. Rajendramnath Reddy said the contract would give sweeping power to Singaporean consortium with 58 per cent stake and four directors on board which would enable the consortium to dictate terms. This agreement would not stand the scrutiny of the Indian Contract Act, he asserted.
He alleged that the manner in which obligation, responsibility, liability and accountability had been placed on the Indian side, while the company would secure irrevocable power of attorney. “This is a total sell out on the part of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who has obsession towards Singapore,” he said.
‘Sivaramakrishnan
panel overlooked’
Mr. Aruna Kumar, at a separate press conference, alleged that the manner in which the Government was going ahead with the capital construction gave scope for huge irregularities.
Mr. Naidu’s intentions were clear in respect of the capital construction from the beginning in that he had overlooked the expert committee headed by Sivramakrishnan and constituted a committee comprising “crony capitalists” to select the venue for the capital.
This was followed by “periodic leaks” about the location of the new capital, fuelling speculation in the real estate market.
He faulted the Chief Minister for his lavish praises of Singapore claiming that the island nation had turned out to be a tax haven and people who committed frauds in other countries parked their money there.
Mr. Naidu was acting in violation of the directions given by the Supreme Court on the modalities to be adopted for Swiss Challenge method. A comprehensive probe into the manner in which land was acquired in the name of land pooling scheme and sparing a few influential persons from the ambit of the scheme would bring out the facts pertaining to the issue.
Contract being handed over to Singapore-based firms is nothing but total sell out, they say
