Amaravati: Kodali Nani hits out at Chandrababu Naidu over letter

Amaravati: Minister for civil supplies Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao (Nani) on Saturday flayed TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu for falsely claiming that payments for paddy procurement was done within 48 hours during TDP rule.

Speaking to the media, the minister stated that the YSRCP government led by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had cleared Rs 4,000 crore towards the dues kept pending by the TDP government to farmers, within three months after coming to power in 2019.

He said both state and Centre have procured 28 lakh metric tonnes of paddy and paid Rs 1,637 crore to farmers by the time Chandrababu wrote a letter to the Chief Minister. With directions from the Chief Minister, the government is paying within 21 days of crop procurement and as on date, only Rs 1,619 crore is yet to be paid.

Kodali Nani said that Centre has to release the arrears of about Rs 3,229 crore to the state, and although there has been a delay in clearing those dues, the government has been paying the farmers from the state treasury.

He said that Chandrababu Naidu doesn't even know the difference between bran and grain and is afraid of writing a letter to the Centre fearing about his cases. He slammed Chandrababu for betraying one crore farmers by promising to waive Rs 85,000 crore farm loans during 2014 elections and not even clearing 20 per cent of the promised amount in his five-year rule.

Meanwhile, the minister rejected Nara Lokesh's allegations against the Chief Minister being vindictive towards opposition and said that he was screaming like a madman confined to his house and Zoom app. He warned Lokesh to mind his tongue while making allegations or addressing the Chief Minister.

He stated that many YSRCP leaders were assassinated during the TDP regime and it was not reasonable to attribute such incidents in the villages to the government.

It was Chandrababu who backstabbed his father-in-law NT Rama Rao to gain power and the same Chandrababu had brought the law to prevent the CBI from entering the state just to safeguard himself, said the minister and questioned the TDP chief whether any CBI inquiry has been ordered in 14 years of his ruling.