Vundavalli Aruna Kumar urges N Chandrababu Naidu to declare graft-holiday in AP

Rajahmundry: Former MP Vundavalli Aruna Kumar appealed to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to declare a ‘holiday’ from corruption in the state and to provide good governance in the next two years. Speaking to newsmen here on Saturday, the former MP, referring to the CAG report that had slammed the state government for spending Rs 351.40 crore for execution of the Pattiseema lift irrigation scheme at Pattisam village of Polavaram mandal in West Godavari, said that it could have been avoided. He mentioned that his charges of graft in the execution of the project were proved right.

With regards to the day-to-day governance in the state, Mr Arun Kumar flayed the government for lacking the financial discipline to limit expenditure as per the revenue and said that the government was availing of the overdraft facility to run the administration on a daily basis, which exposed the precarious financial position of the state. He alleged that even during the earlier stint of Mr Naidu, the state government used the overdraft facility to run the administration.

Regarding the desire of Mr Naidu to be cherished as a man similar to stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar, the former MP welcomed the thought and said that in order to be remembered like such great personalities, Mr Naidu had to first ensure good governance in the state by not permitting any corruption. He said that Mr Naidu had been successful in the elections when he had allied with other parties like the BJP, including the 2014 polls and added that when he contested alone in the 2004 and 2009 elections, he suffered a rout.

Mr Arun Kumar said that as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a non-corrupt politician, he was getting the support of the people across the nation. He also quoted other leaders like Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who got good patronage from the people as they were clean.