CM Jagan's plan to make Kadapa as biggest urban development authority an illusion: BJP's Lanka Dinakar

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lanka Dinakar on Sunday said Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's plan to make Kadapa as the biggest urban development authority was an "illusion" and the project was "not-operative."

"His vision is an illusion. He tried to show on paper the master plan for the urban development authority in Kadapa, which is much bigger than Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore. But, infrastructure facilities, sources of funds and revenue generation through such sources are important in making such a master plan. But without providing such inputs, he declared it as a huge development authority. We consider it as practically non-operative," said Dinakar while talking to ANI.

Dinakar also alleged that through this project, the Chief Minister is trying to spread unrest among people of different regions and is a mere distraction from the government's failure in recent floods in the Kadapa district.

"He had become a helicopter CM during the floods. He did not even provide proper assistance on ground," he added.

He questioned Reddy how such a project would be funded when the state is under a massive debt trap.

Dinakar also alleged that on coming to power, Reddy had sidelined development projects for Amaravati, Prakasam and other parts of the state.

"Wish he had paid the same attention to Amaravati. It is the capital of the state and it was agreed upon by all parties, including Jagan himself. But on coming to power, he scrapped the Amravati project. As a democratically elected CM, he should not be showing such partiality. Also, he failed to develop the Prakasam district. There were many centre-approved projects in Kanigiri. There is a lot of land available for the Donakonda Industrial Corridor as well. But Jagan's government has done nothing. There is a lack of commitment and planning. They should first complete the Amaravati project as per the CRDA agreement with farmers and then proceed to develop all other areas," he said.

The Kadapa Urban Development Body is spread across 12,780 Sq km.

Dinakar also slammed the state government for its decision to allocate MPLAD funds for the development of churches in the state and claimed that the government had given more impetus for religious conversions in the state.

"The Union Statistics Department has demanded answers from the state government as to why the MPLADF funds have been allocated for the construction of churches. But the government has not responded properly. Yesterday, Rs 92 lakh was released for the construction of churches in Tadikonda and Amravati. But the state government stalled the construction of Lord Venkateshwar Temple in Amaravati, which is being built from funds of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), an autonomous body and funds were contributed by the devotees. Here, the public money is being used to construct churches. It is objectionable. It is purely religious appeasement and the government has given more impetus to religious conversions in the state," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )