Urgency to complete Polavaram before polls: CM Jagan takes up pending dues with PM Modi

New Delhi: AP Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an hour to impress upon him the need for the Centre to release all pending dues of Polavaram, including the relief and rehabilitation dues being disputed by the Centre.

It is said that the Chief Minister sought to meet the Prime Minister before meeting Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to seek the former's intervention in the Polavaram issue.

Completion of the Polavaram project is already delayed due to various reasons, including financial constraints. The Chief Minister is keen to get the project completed by next year so that he could have fulfilled his major promise to the electorate before going for the next general elections, it is said.

In fact, AP Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath too tried to impress upon the Finance Minister the dire necessity to release all pending dues as sought by the State to complete the project at the earliest at the recently concluded pre-budget consultations of FMs' with the Union Minister.

It may be recalled that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has called for a meeting of the Chief Secretaries of the two Telugu States on January 12 to discuss the status of assurances given in the AP Reorganization Act, 2014 and which are still pending.

The meeting is expected to take up all the issues, including the contentious issues between the two Telugu States, including those from the Irrigation sector.

Jagan reportedly sought the Prime Minister's nod to get the required budgetary support for Polavaram and also for securing fast-tracking all pending projects. In his one-hour meeting (from 4.15 pm to 5.15 pm) with the PM, Jagan is said to have given details of the pending issues.

The Chief Minister is said to have reminded him of the promise to lend hand-holding to the residual State in view of its disadvantaged financial position due to bifurcation. He reportedly apprised the PM of the need to splice PM-KISAN with the state's own scheme of 'Rythu Bharosa' as it was one of the key promises made by him to the electorate to help farmers. The State Government had no means to continue it on its own if the Centre withheld finances under the PM-KISAN programme. Here he sought the PM's nod to allow PM-KISAN in a rejigged format.

Jagan Mohan Reddy also urged the Prime Minister to go for a rethink on the Vizag Steel Plant privatisation issue while seeking liberal financial assistance from the Centre to tide over the financial crisis being faced by AP, sources said. The Chief Minister has written a letter to the Prime Minister in March last to drop the privatisation proposal of the Steel Plant, yet despite his request and the subsequent protests launched by various trade unions and political parties, the Centre did not change its stand.

Continuation of the State Legislative Council also figured in the meeting, it is said. The State Assembly passed a resolution in November 2021, withdrawing its previous statutory resolution seeking abolition of the Legislative Council.

He is said to have explained to the Prime Minister about it to seek speeding up the process in this regard.

Later during his meeting with the Union Finance Minister, the Chief Minister reportedly urged her to make full allocation in the Budget as required for all the pending projects of the State while earmarking additional assistance to the State in view of its compliance with all rules.

The CM could meet the Union Home Minister if the latter's schedule permits it if only to impress upon him to direct his Home Secretary to expedite the pending assurances of the Bifurcation Act.