Jagan’s publicity mania reached its peak, spending crores on ads: Somireddy

The TDP politburo member and former minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy claimed here on Tuesday that the Chief Minister, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy, has reached the height of his publicity frenzy and is spending millions of rupees on media commercials.

Mr Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy informed reporters that while juggling figures, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy claimed to have granted Rs 1,45,751 crore in financial aid to farmers in the state. Yet the reality is still different, according to Mr. Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy.

Mr Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy stated that the Centre has given Rs 13,000 cr under Prime Minister Kisan Samman Yojana (Rythu Bharosa), Rs 63,000 cr for purchase of farm products, Rs 32,000 cr under free power supply, and the arrears from the previous administration, totaling Rs 1,10,000 cr. Finally, he said, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy has only spent Rs. 35,751 cr.

Of this amount again there is Centre’s share in micro irrigation, mechanisation and other schemes, Mr Somireddy said. The State Government claims that Rs 27,000 crore is paid under Rythu Bharosa, he said, adding that the Centre’s share of the Rs 13,500 crore assistance being offered under this programme is Rs 6,000 crore, with the State Government contributing only Rs 7,500 crore.

Only on Monday did Prime Minister Narendra Modi directly credit Rs 1,000 crore into farmers’ individual accounts in relation to the Rs 2,000 cash support scheme, according to Mr Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy.

Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy is acting as if he is delivering the funds on Tuesday, but he just credited the remaining Rs 90 crore, which was held up owing to a technical difficulty on Monday when the Prime Minister credited the funds to the farmers’ accounts.

Observing that the TDP government waived farm loans in three payments totaling Rs 15,000 crore, and when the TDP government released Rs 3500 crore as the fourth installment, it was Mr Jagan who registered a protest with the Election Commission and got the Chief Secretary changed, he added.

Mr Jagan is paying the amount to the farmers after simply purchasing farm products from them, according to Mr Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy, who also stated that the TDP government provided farmers with input subsidies and came to their aid when they were in crisis.

Observing that the State Government has raised loans amounting to over Rs 10 lakh crore, the TDP politburo member said that the TDP that is likely to come back to power will have to carry this load. The Jagan Mohan Reddy government has entirely ignored the farming sector, he claims, adding that only 35% of budgeted allocations have gone to farmers.

When the national average financial load on farmers is Rs 74,500, it is Rs 2,45,000 in Andhra Pradesh.

Mr Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy stated that the state is now second in the country in terms of farmer suicides and asked a white paper on agricultural spending over the last four years.