YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday alleged that development of Machilipatnam port and Krishna delta have been ignored by successive governments after the demise of his father and former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. He did not give any time line for the completion of the port, but said it would be developed on 4,800 acres as envisaged by his father.
Addressing an election meeting on the Robertsonpeta police station premises here, Mr. Jagan said: “The midnight decree to gather 33,000 acres for the port and industrial corridor had disturbed the wedding plans of farmers, impacting cultivation for three years. The land acquisition notification was a nightmare.”
“None of the Chief Ministers after my father realised the benefit of bringing water from Prakasam Barrage to Machilipatnam,” said Mr. Jagan.
On the TDP’s prestigious Pasupu-Kumkuma scheme, he said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had scrapped the interest-free loan facility for the SHGs in May 2016 and now offering the package to make amends for it.
The YSRCP chief promised to waive the ₹3 lakh loan on housing schemes, cut power tariff from ₹9 to ₹3.50 per unit for the Machilipatnam jewellery industry if the party is voted to power.
Mr. Jagan came down on Mr. Naidu for allowing Bharat Electronics Limited’s expansion project to shift out of Machilipatnam.
‘E. Godavari neglected’
Participating in a roadshow along with party candidate K. Kanna Babu in the Kakinada Rural segment, he reiterated his promise that notifications would be issued to fulfil 2.3 lakh vacancies soon after the YSRCP is voted to power.
Mr. Jagan said that a legislation would be brought to allocate government contracts to the unemployed and reservation would be given to the SC, ST and BC candidates.
The YSRCP chief said though the ruling party had 17 legislators, including the defectors, from East Godavari district, the government had utterly failed in developing it. Holding the TDP responsible for the denial of the Special Category Status to the State, Mr. Jagan said that a good number of industries might have come up if it had materialised.
“The YSRCP is keen on achieving the special status and we are going to extend our support to the party at the Centre that promises it,” he said.
