Jagan broke Rs 4k crore disaster fund promise: Naidu

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo and the principal opposition leader in Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu, on Tuesday alleged that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy broke the promise of setting up a Rs 4,000 crore disaster relief fund after coming to power.

He said Reddy made promises under the Rythu Bharosa as well as for disaster relief during the 2019 elections, but did not live up to them.

Naidu made these observations in a video conference, addressing TDP in-charges for all the 174 Assembly constituencies.

"The Jagan Reddy regime was giving just Rs 37,500 to each farmer during five years while TDP would have given over Rs 1.15 lakh in four to five installments under the Annadata Sukhibhava and loan waiver scheme," he claimed.

After coming to power, he alleged that the ruling YSRCP party cut down the amount it promised to each farmer by over Rs 77,500.

At a time when farmers across the state are reeling with inundated fields due to heavy rains, Naidu said YSRCP leaders were not reaching out to the flood-hit farmers.

"On the other hand, false cases are being filed against the TDP leaders who are visiting to help the aggrieved farmers," he alleged, hinting at his son Nara Lokesh's visit to West Godavari district.

Criticising the recent upward revision of traffic violation penalties, Naidu termed the move as a 'Tughlaq' act.

"Inscribing Jagan Reddy's photos on survey stones was one more Tughlaq act. With its chaotic Tughlaq policies, the YSRCP has totally pushed the future of Andhra Pradesh into uncertainty and despair," alleged the senior most TDP leader.

Instead of helping the flood-hit farmers, he said the government is filing cases to terrify them with heavy fines.

Meanwhile, the former Chief Minister said that Amaravati and Polavaram are like two eyes of the southern state, but the ruling party has destroyed them.

He claimed that the erstwhile TDP government completed 72 per cent works of the Polavaram project.

"This was possible only because the then TDP government took up supervision of the project. Everybody should counter the misinformation campaign launched by the ruling YSRCP in this aspect," Naidu said.

According to Naidu, TDP brought out a Rs 5 lakh insurance programme in 2014 itself, prior to which Apadbandhu and Aam Aadmi insurance schemes used to cover for Rs 50,000 to  Rs 75,000 only, he said.