Mangalagiri: Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary demands withdrawal of hike

Mangalagiri: TDP senior leader and Rajamahendravaram (Rural) MLA Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary on Wednesday strongly objected to the YSRCP government's adamant attitude to go ahead with the new property tax system despite all-round protests from the public and civil society organisations.

He termed it as laughable the contention of municipal administration minister Botcha Satyanarayana that the property tax hike was only about 15 per cent or so of the existing rate.

In a statement here, the TDP MLA asked how Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government could cancel the age-old system of calculating property tax based on the rental values. Quite arbitrarily, the new system was introduced to calculate tax based on the values of the property concerned. This was placing a heavy burden on the people. Especially the house owners in the urban areas were greatly disturbed at this new taxation, he said.

Chowdary demanded the government to reconsider its decision before the people stepped up their protests. The ardent pleas from different sections of society were falling on deaf ears in the present Jagan Mohan Reddy rule, he observed.

The TDP MLA criticised that the YSRCP government has been on a mission to break the backs of middle class and poorer sections in the state since it came to power. A select few in the ruling party were becoming richer while all other sections were becoming poorer and more disadvantaged, he remarked.