Amaravati: TDP terms budget impractical

Amaravati: TDP senior leader Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary alleged that the budget introduced by the YSRCP government was not practical and seems to be aimed at just to contradict everything the previous TDP government did.

Reacting to first day of discussion on Budget in Assembly on Monday, the senior MLA predicted that the government would have to face the wrath of people in case it goes ahead with the implementation of budget in the present form.

He pointed out that the state government allocated just Rs 1,200 crore for acquisition of land for Polavaram project, for which 50,000 acre land was yet to be acquired out of the total requirement of around 1.5 lakh acre. He wondered how can the government acquire such vast extent of land with just Rs 1,200 crore.

"This budget is not people-oriented. The YSRCP leaders wanted to showcase their manifesto through it. Finance minister Rajendranath Reddy reduced allocations to many welfare schemes. In some cases, the government has even shelved the existing schemes to implement their manifesto," the TDP member added.

Reacting to TDP criticism, YSRCP senior leader Dharmana Prasad Rao described the budget as budget for weaker sections. He reasoned that Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy gave preference to the welfare of weaker sections by making more budgetary allocations to benefit those sections.

He criticised the previous government for borrowing heavily and misusing the money. Prasada Rao explained that the then chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had taken more than Rs 2.50 lakh crore loans from various sources in his five year tenure. But, the TDP government failed to create assets in proportion to the debts it had taken, he added.

Finance minister Rajendranath Reddy alleged that the previous government had looted the public money in the name of various schemes like Neeru-Chettu. "But this government will not continue such programmes and hence I brought welfare-oriented budget," he said.