Senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal on Thursday claimed that Andhra Pradesh has had a five-year gap in development under the ruling YSRCP and expressed confidence that the NDA will come to power in the state as well as the Centre to bring back growth and prosperity.
Goyal made these remarks at a press conference in Vijayawada, following a meeting with TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu at his Andhra Pradesh residence in Undavalli.
"It is unfortunate that there was a five-year gap in the development work happening in Andhra Pradesh but we are very confident that this vindictive corruption-ridden government of Jagan Mohan Reddy will be defeated and Naidu will once again become the CM of the state," he said.
Though the southern state is blessed with abundant opportunities, talent, hardworking farmers and other advantages, Goyal noted that it witnessed a series of failures, massive misgovernance and corruption at the highest level.
He alleged that a fast-developing state like Andhra Pradesh was overtaken in the past five years by sand, liquor and land 'mafias', compelling people to take 'refuge' in central government schemes.
According to the senior BJP leader, the union government approved 21.32 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana scheme but the local government could only deliver 3.25 lakh houses to beneficiaries.
Claiming that this is just one example of the 'inefficient' YSRCP government's corruption, Goyal asserted that the Polavaram Project's cost was inflated due to graft.
"Time and again the YSRCP government has failed to meet the deadline to complete the project despite the fact that the central government led by PM Modi gave Rs 15,000 crore additional (funds) to the state, but I think the interest was more towards inflating the cost of the project," he added.
Further, he accused the state government of 'failing' to allocate land to the Centre for setting up a railway zone in five years and also allegedly diverting Rs 8,000 crore Panchayat funds.
Referring to the reservation issue, Goyal said the NDA government will neither raise nor diminish the existing quotas.
Goyal exuded confidence that NDA will win all the 25 Lok Sabha and more than 150 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh.