Budget session cut short to cover up failures: TDP

Amaravati: TDP leader and MLA Nimmala Ramanaidu criticized the AP government for its harassment and defiance of the people, media, legislature, executive and judiciary.

He lamented that the Governor's address to the Assembly and the Council lacked any genuine commitment to solving the problems of the people in these times of financial difficulties and Coronavirus threat. Two days of the Budget session were simply inadequate to debate on the current issues and economy.

Ramanaidu told a press conference that at least 20 days of the session was required to discuss problems like coronavirus, Amaravati, power bills, RTC bus charges and attacks on Dalits. the Telugu Desam strongly demanded the conduct of virtual assembly in view of the pandemic. The government said this was not possible, but the Governor gave his address virtually. He also pointed out how the Supreme Court was conducting proceedings through various apps and internet services.

The TDP leader said be it the Governor's address or the Budget, it was shocking that neither of them had any discussion among the members of the Legislature. He condemned that it was undemocratic of the government to prevent a discussion on bills that affected 5 crore people of Andhra Pradesh. This was why TDP boycotted the budget. While committing human rights abuses, on one hand, the government is converting the Assembly into a dummy, as an institution with no value.

Speaking on the budget, he remarked that it was merely a contrivance of numbers and a budget that rolled back welfare. This was a budget that murdered any kind of discussion on its contents. With no resolution on the Governor's address, no discussion on the Budget or the CAG report, and 8 bills introduced in the Assembly unilaterally.