Chandrababu False Claims Vs Ground Reality in AP

Andhra Pradesh chief minister, Nara Chandrababu Naidu often claims that he developed Hyderabad and built Cyberabad. He also lays claim to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad, Polavaram project and the development of the IT sector. Chandrababu Naidu also claimed that he would build a Singapore-like global city in Amaravati. It would be interesting to see how many such Goebbelsian claims of the TDP supremo stand the test of scrutiny.

Claim: "I have waived farmers' loans."

Reality: Farmers' loans amount to Rs. 87,612 Crores. The amount given thus far is Rs. 15,300 Crores which would not cover even the insurance part. As per the state-level bankers' committee report, these loans have climbed to a total of Rs. 1,37,502.19 Crores. The question for Chandrababu is, when and whose loans were waived?

Claim: "I have waived DWCRA loans."

Reality: When Chandrababu came to power in 2014, the loan amounts of DWCRA groups stood at Rs.14,2014 crores. The loans were not waived and the total amount rose to Rs. 25,424 Crores.

Claim: "I have brought in reservation bringing Kapus under BCs."

Reality: The TDP government forwarded a resolution passed by the assembly giving 5% reservation to Kapus under BCs to the Centre, and washed its hands off the matter. Chandrababu is touting this as reservation having been given to Kapus. In truth, the TDP government through a token GO, had allocated 5% (to Kapus) of the 10% announced by the NDA government to the economically backward among forward castes. Chandrababu is propagating this as reservations given to Kapus, when he knows about the Constitutional hurdles which lie ahead.

Claim: "We are filling up vacancies issuing by releasing notifications as per the calendar."

Reality: Of the 6,97,621 posts there are 1,42,825 vacancies, and if one adds the number of those super-annuated in these four and a half years, the number of vacancies would cross 2.40 lakhs. The Chandrababu government however, determined that there are 4.83 lakh approved posts and 77,737 vacancies. It said it would fill up 20,000 posts in the regular mode and outsource the rest. While there are more than 5,000 vacancies in the police department alone, the number of posts filled up through APPSC totalled 2300.

Claim: "I created history by linking up rivers and integrated the Godavari and the Krishna."

Reality: The right canal of Polavaram was completed to the extent of 145 km under the tenure of late Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy. Chandrababu claimed that he created history by linking up the Godavari and Krishna rivers. He claimed that it is a first in the country. In truth, under the name of Pattiseema lift irrigation scheme, Godavari water was diverted through ten pumps. The Central Water Commission however, nailed this claim saying that the Godavari and Krishna rivers had not been linked.

The Chairman of the Central Wter Commission Masood Hussain stated that only when a dam was built across a river, a reservoir for storage constructed and water diverted through a canal to a dam across another river would it be known as linking up rivers.

It was the late Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy who drew up a plan to link up the two rivers, Godavari and Krishna and undertake the Polavaram project. In 1863, a Dutch organisation linked up Pennar and Tungabhadra rivers and dug up the KC Canal. After Independence, the Tungabhadra, Pennar and Chitravati rivers were linked up from the Tungabhadra basin and the HLC Left canal dug. The question again is, did Chandrababu create history by linking up rivers?

Claim: "I completed the projects and gave water to the river basin or ayacut."

Reality: Chandrababu made it his habit to lay foundation stones for irrigation projects and forget about them later, looking at his 9 year term from 1995-2004, at the time of parliamentary polls in 1996, mid-term elections in 1998 and 1999 general elections.

In 2004, late Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy took up 83 projects to irrigate one crore acres at a cost of Rs. 1,03,000 crores. In 5 years, Dr. YSR oversaw the construction of approximately 41 projects. After the TDP government came to power, Chandrababu released a white paper on July 28, 2014 on incomplete irrigation projects. He announced the completion of pending projects at a cost of Rs. 17,368 crores to irrigate 35.04 lakh acres. From June 08, 2014 to date the AP government has not completed a single project, but has spent Rs. 65,345.45 crores so far. Chandrababu goes around taking credit for work almost fully completed by Dr. YSR, including Thotapalli, Galeru-Nagari, Handri-Neeva and other projects.

Claim: "I developed Hyderabad and built Cyberabad. I brought IT to Hyderabad, built Outer Ring Road (ORR) and Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA). I put Hyderabad on the world map."

Reality: International IT and software companies scouted for safe locations which were not earthquake or disaster prone. They zeroed in on Hyderabad and at the behest of then PM PV Narasimha Rao, approached Nedurumalli Janardhan Reddy who was the chief minister of undivided AP.

It was N. Janardhan Reddy, who as chief minister, laid the foundation stone for Cyber Towers in Hyderabad and urged IT industries to set up offices in Hyderabad. Soon after, IT firms came to the city in a big way and Hi-Tech City took shape. However, Chandrababu takes the entire credit for this, as well. It was Dr. YSR who got the airport work initiated in Shamshabad in the year 2005 and got it inaugurated on March 23, 2008, completing it in 3 years flat. Similarly, the 158 km stretch of ORR was undertaken by Dr. YSR in 2005 and almost completed in 2008.

Where do Chandrababu's claims lie in the face of facts?

"I established the IT sector and provided lakhs of jobs in the IT field to youth."

Reality: 85,000 Youth were employed in the IT sector in 2003-04 when Chandrababu Naidu was the chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh. IT exports totalled Rs. 5,025 crores in his time. Under Dr. YSR, the IT industry spread to other cities and towns such as Vizag, Kakinada, Tirupati, Kadapa and Warangal.

It was in Dr. YSR's time that IT giants Cognizant, Microsoft, Infosys, Wipro, TCS came to Hyderabad in phases. It was in Dr. YSR's time that the US Consulate was set up in the city. 50,000 acres were assigned to Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR). By 2009, the number of employees in the IT sector rose to 2.85 lakhs.

IT exports in Dr. YSR's time were to the tune of Rs. 8,145 Crores in 2004-05, Rs. 12,251 crores in 2005-06, Rs. 18,582 crores in 2006-07, Rs. 26,122 crores in 2007-08 and Rs. 32,509 crores in 2008-09. They reached Rs. 33,482 crores in 2009-10. While Chandrababu may take credit for what he has not done, statistics on the subject speak for themselves.

Claim: "Polavaram was my dream...I will complete the project and turn the state fertile."

Reality: Polavaram has been a dream of the Telugu people for seven decades and in 2004, Dr YSR took the decision to initiate the project after taking oath as chief minister on May 14, 2004. He gave site clearance on September 9, 2005 and obtained the required environmental permissions on October 25, 2005. He also got the clearance from the forest department for the sanctuary on July 6, 2007 and permissions on resettlement and rehabilitation along with an assistant package on April 17, 2007 from the Centre. Dr YSR under took the Polavaram project with an estimated cost of Rs 10, 151.04 crores. He completed the works on the right canal to the extent of 145 kilometres along with lining. 134 kilometres of work on the left canal along with lining had been completed under Dr YSR. He also strove to turn Polavaram into a national project and complete the headworks and reservoir work. Dr YSR also obtained the required permission from the planning comission on February 25, 2009. Rs 5135.87 crores had been spent by 2009 and 44.84% of the works on Polavaram completed. While this is the reality, Chandrababu makes empty claims about Polavaram. If he had been so passionate about Polavaram project, why did Chandrababu not even grant the required permission in his nine-year tenure as CM? What further proof does one need to point out as to who was genuinely concerned about the completion of Polavaram and whose dream it was?

Claim: "I will turn roadblocks into opportunities and construct a capital city of world class standards."

Reality: The Andhra Pradesh government acquired 33,000 acres of fertile land on which multicropping was done by farmers. Utilising 40 acres of this land, the Chandrababu government build a temporary secretariat, temporary Assembly and council at a cost of Rs 11,000 per sqft. The slightest shower causes leakage in the Secretariat and Assembly buildings, leading to subsequent repairs. This has become the standard practice from the times these buildings were constructed. With elections around the corner, the AP government called for tenders for the construction of a permanant secretariat, Assembly and council along with highways at an estimated cost of Rs 39,875 crores. Among those, who were awareded contracts are L&T, Shapoorji Pallorji, BSR Infra and NCC which were given these works at 4.89% extra cost. What is the secret behind the hasty award of contracts to these firms with a mobilisation advance of Rs 3987.50 crores. The answer is an open secret as is the fact that no permanant building was constructed in these four and a half years.

Claim: "I set up industries across the state at a cost of Rs 19.61 lakh crores and signed up 1,761 agreements. This will lead to the creation of 32,55,263 jobs."

Reality: The state government conducted investor summits in Visakhapatnam. Chandrababu made several overseas trips claiming he would bring investments to the state and announced that heavy investments were flowing into the state through MoUs signed with local as well as internaitonal firms. But from 2014 to date, only Rs 9,553 crores worth investments have come to the state as per figures released by department of industrial policy and promotion.

Also Read: TDP Resorting To Vicious Personal Attacks: Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy