Hyderabad: AP Opposition leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday met Union home minister Rajnath Singh to register his protest against what he said was Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s ‘unbridled corruption which is evident from his buying YSR Congress MLAs'.
Reddy also released a book ‘Emperor of Corruption’ comprising documents of land registration deals in AP capital, GOs issued to benefit individuals and companies. He alleged that the “value” corrupt deals during Naidu’s 24-month rule would be around Rs 1. 34 lakh-crore.
Read: TDP downplays 'corruption' booklet by Jagan-led YSRC
Reddy presented the booklet to leaders of some national parties, including Rajnath Singh.
Notably, ahead of the 2009 Legislative Assembly elections, the TDP then opposition in the combined state of Andhra Pradesh, had published a booklet entitled "Raja of Corruption" against the then Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and distributed it to all political parties in the country.
Jagan, who was not even in politics at that time, was listed as a beneficiary of various quid pro quo deals cleared by his father and Chief Minister Rajasekhara Reddy.
Now, with the TDP luring away his MLAs (13 and still counting), Jagan has launched a "Save Democracy" campaign and brought out this booklet to "expose" Chandrababu.
"Under his (Chandrababu's) leadership, the state has become the capital of collusive corruption. Kickbacks, bribes, shares, commissions...the name could differ, but corruption is open and ubiquitous in the state," the YSRC said in the preface.
"Today, in AP there is nothing that can be done without a bribe and there is nothing that cannot be done with a bribe. From sand reaches to solar plants, tenders in irrigation department to power department, Chandrababu ensured that not a single process is unaffected by the corrupt government," it added.
"After acquiring the ill-gotten money, Chandrababu Naidu has brazenly started 'Operation Akarsh' - whereby MLAs from our party are being poached on day to day basis using carrot and stick policy. If they join TDP, they are paid a minimum of Rs 20 to Rs 30 crore, besides the lure of ministerial berths," the YSRC added.
In the name of developing a world-class Capital Amaravati, the state government was doing a "world-class: real estate scandal" worth Rs one lakh crore, it alleged.
"Chandrababu is a byword for extravagance," the opposition party said, adding that his "profligate spending" touched a sum of Rs 736.37 crore.
"Chandrababu always talks about the financial hardships the new state is facing. However, on the other hand, he spends money like water. He thinks spending government money is his birth right and his extravagance knows no limits," it alleged.
The Chief Minister spent Rs 30 crore so far on use of chartered aircraft, Rs 45 crore on refurbishing (CM) office in Hyderabad (Secretariat) and another Rs 42 crore on Camp Office in Vijayawada, it said.
"Chandrababu created a record of sorts in travelling by special chartered planes. Probably there is no other Chief Minister in the country, who made such thorough use of chartered planes," it said.
Had the Chief Minister controlled his unnecessary spending, he could have built a permanent, world-class Secretariat building, the YSRC pointed out.
The Emperor of Corruption booklet also lists some of the "corrupt deals" struck by Chandrababu's son and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh.
"Nara Lokesh was apparently behind the deal to waive Rs 500 crore value-added tax to rice millers in March 2015. He received Rs 200 crore from this decision (taken by the Cabinet)," the booklet said.
The state government also "gifted" 50 acres of land worth Rs 363 crore in Visakhapatnam to Lokesh's friend Sridhar for just Rs 25 crore. This despite the recommendation of AP Land Management Agency, headed by Chief Commissioner of Land Administration, to sell each acre at Rs 7.26 crore, it claimed.
The YSRC also alleged that Rs 900 crore out of Rs 1217 crore released by the Centre to gram panchayats was misappropriated by TDP men. "There is no end to such stories of open corruption by Chandrababu Naidu," the opposition party said.
The Opposition leader also met senior leaders like Sharad Pawar of the NCP and Sitaram Yechury of CPI(M) along with his party MLAs, MLCs and MPs and highlighted Naidu’s alleged corruption.
He said that anti-defection law needs to be amended. The only way to end the trend of defections would be to ensure that power of disqualification be vested in the hands of the Election Commission and not the Speaker, Reddy said.
