Jagan turned AP into 'mafia raj', alleges TDP

Andhra Pradesh has turned into a ''mafia raj'' under the three-year rule of Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy even as the state went back 30 years in terms of development and faced the threat of meeting the same fate as Sri Lanka, the opposition Telugu Desam Party said on Friday.

With a debt of Rs 8 lakh crore, the state that once stood on top in the country in development and good governance has now turned into a symbol of destruction, the principal opposition party said.

A political resolution to this effect, moved by politburo member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, was adopted on the first day of the two-day Mahanadu, the TDP's annual conclave, here on Friday.

The party gave a call to the people to re-dedicate themselves to rebuild the state, freeing it from the ''incompetent and despotic'' regime of Jagan Mohan Reddy.

''Andhra Pradesh exemplified how things would be when inept, corrupt, criminal and deceptive people take over the reins. Vested interests were ruling the roost while welfare and development have been ignored,'' the TDP said.

The YSR Congress turned the state into a ''mafia hub'' in land, mining, sand, liquor, drugs, red sanders and the like, it further said.

The main opposition party also expressed apprehension that AP could soon meet the fate of Sri Lanka, with industrialisation on the decline, growing unemployment and mounting state debt.

Sri Lanka is going through its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. A crippling shortage of foreign reserves has led to long queues for fuel, cooking gas and other essentials while power cuts and soaring food prices heaped misery on the people in the neighbouring country.

The TDP said the state government was breaking the backs of people by imposing extra tax burden.

The party stressed on the need for ''constitutional cooperation'' between the Centre and the state to work for socio-economic development.

''At the same time, safeguarding the state's rights is the TDP's policy,'' it maintained.

The TDP vowed to follow the ideals on which the party was founded by the late legendary actor and former chief minister N T Rama Rao (NTR).

''Inspired by the likes of B R Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Jyotirao Phule and Babu Jagjivan Ram, NTR ushered in a new political philosophy aimed at making the backward and downtrodden sections partners in power. At the same time, NTR strove to uphold the constitutional values and spirit. We will continue our journey on the same path,'' the TDP said.

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