Senior BJP leader Daggubati Purandeswari on Tuesday squarely blamed Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for the ‘delay’ in implementation of the Kadapa steel plant project.
Addressing a press conference here, Ms. Purandeswari said the Centre had sought information from the TDP government on availability of raw material, water resources and road and rail facility in the area, but the State had not responded till date.
“If it had responded promptly like it did in the case of the Polavaram project, construction of the plant would have started by now,” she said.
Referring to other three issues that are the bone of contention between the State and the Centre, she said realising that the Dugarajapatnam port construction at the proposed site might get delayed due to the objections raised by the ISRO and also the environmental activists who had moved court, the Modi government had asked the State government to show an alternative location. “Instead of doing that, the State has announced that it will construct a mini port at Ramayapatnam on its own,” she said.
Railway zone
On railway zone, she said the issue was was linked to Odisha. Railway Minister Piyush Goel had asked the Railway Board, which had raised objections. It would take some time before matters were sorted out, she said.
With regard to the Special Category Status, the BJP leader said after agreeing to special package, Mr. Naidu wanted the Centre to release funds to be approved through HUDCO and NABARD. Since that would have attracted clauses of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, the Centre suggested that the AP government constitute a Special Purpose Vehicle, but it had not been done till date, she said.
Taking exception to the campaign by the TDP that the Centre had not been giving any help, Ms. Purandeswari said every project implemented in the State had the Centre’s role and cited examples of ‘NTR Nagar’ under Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana, ‘Chandranna Bima’ under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana and other constructions under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
She said despite ‘desperate attempts’ by TDP leaders to disrupt Mr. Modi’s public meeting in Guntur, it was a grand success.
