YSRCP leader and Education Minister Botcha Satyanarayana took a swipe at Prashant Kishor on Monday, saying that the political strategist would stoop to any level to extol the praises of those who hire him.
“Prashant Kishor will praise anyone to the skies once he gets paid. People no longer believe him,” Mr. Satyanarayana said at a press conference here on Monday, wondering why Mr. Kishor decided to leave Bihar.
“TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu is good at brokering deals. The State has been on the path of progress in the last five years of YSRCP rule. The reports of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee and analysis of Niti Aayog have reaffirmed this, and it was made possible by the reforms initiated by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy,” the Minister explained.
Mr. Satyanarayana said that while Mr. Kishor was hired by the YSRCP in the past, his role was limited. “Had his suggestions been implemented, the party’s fate would have been different. While Mr. Kishor is free to praise Mr. Naidu, I would advise him to not indulge in mudslinging against others.”
Referring to the complaints lodged by the Opposition against bureaucrats, he said the Election Commission would take the complaints seriously if they were directed against one or two officials, but not if the entire bureaucracy was accused of wrongdoing. “The same IAS and IPS officers had worked under YSR and N. Chandrababu Naidu when they were Chief Ministers,” he said.
In a jibe at the TDP and BJP over their complaints against volunteers, Mr. Satyanarayana said the two parties should write to the ECI requesting the appointment of Heritage and Margadarsi employees to conduct the elections. “Mr. Naidu planned to siphon off ₹1.21 lakh crore through various proposals under the pretext of building the capital city in Amaravati,” the Minister said.
Replying to queries, Mr. Satyanarayana said that he had signed the file pertaining to NCC land and Ambience lands. The TDP government, during its tenure, had issued a G.O. saying that the land should be given to the developers after they pay the price for it. “I had only implemented it,” he said.
The Minister said that he was given a ‘camp house’ at the GVMC Guest House on Beach Road. He, however, said that the decision of the ECI would be final on the issue. He ridiculed the changing stance of JSP president Pawan Kalyan on various issues.
To another query, he asked as to how Mr. Naidu, who had alleged that the YSRCP government was plunging the State into a debt trap through its implementation of welfare schemes, is now promising to implement welfare schemes. “Will he get money from Heritage Foods (the dairy firm owned by Mr. Naidu’s wife N. Bhuvaneswari)?”
