No hike in property tax, despite Centre's proposal, says Balineni

Ongole: Energy Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy on Sunday made it clear the municipalities and municipal corporation won by YSRCP will not increase taxes nor introduce new taxes.

Addressing a press conference, he said the State government, led by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, is not ready to do everything that the central government advises, but will implement only those programmes that benefit the public.

He said that the local bodies won by the YSRCP are not going to increase property tax or impose any new taxe, as advised by the Centre.

Condemning the remarks made against him by the Telugu Desam Party general secretary Nara Lokesh, the Minister said that the latter has no courage to at least reply to his notices served when he made similar allegations in the case of money caught near Chennai. Srinivasa Reddy confessed that he plays cards with few friends, but not a womaniser like the TDP leader and displayed few photographs of various women with Lokesh.

The Minister Balineni warned the former minister Lokesh and former Ongole MLA Damacharla Janardhana Rao not to make personal comments again. He said that the government is trying to provide a better opportunity to dairy farmers by linking them to Amul Dairy, as the earlier TDP government ruined the dairies in the State, including the Ongole Dairy. He advised Lokesh not to believe everything he listened from others, and make comments based on them. He said that in the reverse tendering model, the government received a quote to level the 700 acres government land in Yerajarla and questioned the possibility of a scam for Rs 40 crore.

He said that the government has allotted 300 sqft area TIDCO houses at just Re 1 to the beneficiaries, while the TDP government put thousands of rupees burden on them and also saved Rs 400 crore in reverse tendering of the construction process.

Srinivasa Reddy condemned the allegations that YSRCP leaders threatening the candidates from opposition parties to declare their candidates unanimously won in the local body elections. He said if he really tried to go that way, there might be about 30 unanimous corporators for the YSRCP in Ongole Municipal Corporation.

He said that they are going to win 49 of the 50 divisions in Ongole by conducting the elections. He said that the public is going to vote as they are impressed over the work done by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, but not the candidates. He warned that the party will initiate action against the rebels working against the party candidates and advised them to work for the winning of the candidate with the party symbol.

Condemning the remarks that YSRCP is cooperating with the BJP in the central government, Balineni said that the YSRCP leaders are in the fight against the privatisation of the steel plant at Visakhapatnam and questioned why the Jana Sena is not talking against the disinvestment announced by the Union government.