Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Bothca Satyanarayana on Saturday dared the TDP to fight against the Modi Government at the Centre over the rising prices of petroleum products instead of trying to corner the YSRCP government on the issue.
Addressing the media here, Mr. Satyanarayana said that the YSRCP government was also worried over the rise in the prices of petrol and diesel.
“The State government’s role in fixing the prices of petroleum products is minimal,” he said.
“A cess of only ₹1 per litre has been imposed by the State government for the development of road network,” the Minister said.
“The TDP leaders fear to utter the name of the Prime Minister while agitating over the issue of fuel prices, but are ready to blame the YSRCP government. The TDP’s protest is aimed at misleading the people,” he said.
Referring to the huge debts availed, Mr. Satyanarayana said, “The State government availed of loans and disbursed ₹1.10 lakh crore directly to the beneficiaries’ accounts. It has helped revive the economic activity when people are in distress due to the impact of COVID-19.”
“The TDP government too had borrowed nearly ₹2.5 lakh crore. It had neither created fixed assets nor transferred the amount to the people’s accounts,” the Minister said.
‘Legal hurdles’
Hoping that Visakhapatnam would soon become the State’s Executive Capital, the Minister promised quick development of the North Andhra region once the proposal materialised.
“Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram would have been developed on the lines of Hyderabad and Secunderabad had there been no legal hurdles in making the Port City the Executive Capital,” he said.
“We will overcome all legal tangles and ensure speedy development of the region,” he added.
Mr. Satyanarayana said the people’s concerns over the VMRDA’s master plan would be addressed by the experts’ committee constituted recently.
He said the opinion of majority people would prevail in the finalisation of the master plan, which was aimed at ensuring planned growth both in Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts.
