For the largesse that the state got from the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman Tuesday, Andhra Pradesh must be thankful to Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, which made BJP fall way short of the magic number of 272 in the Lok Sabha elections.
Other than money to build the new capital city of Amravati, the union budget also made several big-ticket allocations to the truncated Andhra Pradesh which was cheated out of its wealth and riches after Telangana was carved out of the combined Telugu-speaking state.
Because the BJP fell short of numbers, the big chunk of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) seats, and those of Janata Dal (United) Bihar, saved the BJP and shored up its numbers to form the government for the third time at the Centre headed by PM Narendra Modi.
TDP has 17 Lok Sabha members and along with JDU makes up the shortfall of the BJP for government formation. There are a few independent MPs who make the numbers a tad higher than the midway figure, but the government’s stability and continuity are ensured by the support of these two regional parties in Andhra and Bihar.
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Had the BJP scored well in UP and Rajasthan, its dependence on NDA partners for crucial support would have been lesser and the party would have had its majority and not dependent on allies for making up the numbers.
This dependency is very much indicated in the special attention given to the two states of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar in the budgetary allocations.
On Tuesday, the Prime Minister returned the compliments by getting the union finance minister to allocate a big chunk of funds, projects and programmes to the two states of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. This was to keep the coalition partners happy, so that the longevity of his government increases, and its stableness is enhanced.
The ruling TDP in Andhra Pradesh and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu welcomed the special allocations for the state from the union budget, and the funds for the completion of the Polavaram project, the complete industrial corridor between the state and Karnataka.
In particular, Naidu thanked the PM and the government for the first tranche of Rs15,000 crore towards building the capital city of Amravati, a project that was nearly shelved by the former Chief Minister YS Jagamohan Reddy.
“Rs 15,000 crore for reconstruction of Andhra Pradesh this fiscal, additional fund for Polavaram (Project) lifeline, funds for Vizag Chennai Industrial Corridor this year, and special funds for seven backward districts,” are welcome as these will ensure steady progress and growth of the state, the chief minister and his party said.
In her speech, the finance minister said that the NDA government at the Centre has “made concerted efforts to fulfil the commitments” in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 and added that “special financial support” will be facilitated by the Union Government through multilateral agencies.
“Recognising the state’s need for the capital, we will facilitate special financial support through multilateral development agencies. In the current financial year, Rs15,000 crore will be arranged with additional amounts in future years,” she announced on July 23.
She also declared central government support for the early completion of the Polavaram project, which is considered the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh and its farmers. It may be recalled that money to build capital and the Polavaram project were the two specific and key demands raised by the Telugu Desam Party.
As part of the industrial development of the southern state under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, the union minister said funds would be provided for essential infrastructure such as power, water and railways in the Kopparthi node of the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor.
A similar impetus will be extended to the Orvakal node of the Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor.
The finance minister also promised grants as mentioned in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 for the backward regions in Rayalaseema, Prakasam and North Coastal Andhra regions.
Andhra Pradesh Minister and TDP leader Nara Lokesh welcomed the budgetary proposals of Rs15,000 crore and thanked the Centre for the developmental move.
“Thanks to the Central government which announced that it will provide full support for the completion of the projects of Amaravati, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, and Polavaram project, the lifeline of AP. On behalf of the people of the state, we express our gratitude to the NDA government for committing to the reconstruction of Andhra Pradesh by allocating Rs 15,000 crore in the budget,” the minister said in a post on X.
Main/Featured Image on top by Igor Ovsyannykov from Pixabay/All pictures have been used for illustrative purposes only/The opinion in the article is attributed to the author alone and The NewsPorter bears no responsibility for the same
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