No financial assistance for Dholera yet: BJP rebukes Andhra CM Naidu's claims

Minister Jitendra Singh also questioned Naidu's intention on suddenly raising the issue and said that 'vested interests' were behind the move.
No financial assistance for Dholera yet: BJP rebukes Andhra CM Naidu's claims
No financial assistance for Dholera yet: BJP rebukes Andhra CM Naidu's claims
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The Centre on Wednesday hit back at Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's allegations and said that no financial assistance had been extended to develop Dholera, a proposed smart city in Gujarat.

Taking the example of Dholera, a smart city being developed in Modi's home state of Gujarat, the TDP has been alleging that the Centre had sanctioned Rs 44,000 crore for Dholera and released around Rs 5,000 crore, while it sanctioned only Rs 2,500 crore for Amaravati for which Rs 1,500 crore had been released.

Speaking to reporters in Amaravati on Wednesday, Dr Jitendra Singh, the minister of state at the Prime Minister's Office, said that the Centre had not extended any financial assistance to Dholera, and added that no such deliberation was made. 

Singh also questioned Naidu's intention on suddenly raising the issue and said that 'vested interests' were behind the move. 

Meanwhile, newly-appointed state BJP president Kanna Lakshminarayana also came down heavily on Naidu.

“For the welfare of AP and commitment towards the bifurcated State, and assurances given by Narendra Modi, in Tirupati, we aligned with the Telugu Desam. The state had proposed Rs 1,000 crore aid per annum from the Centre, and the Centre drafted a special package of Rs 3,500 crore per annum. But, the TDP regime had failed to apply for the projects and get money from the agency,” he told reporters.

Earlier this week, speaking on the occasion of TDP's 'Mahanadu', the annual party conclave, Naidu even asked if states should pay taxes to the Centre, if it does not get anything in return.

“The Centre has not been releasing funds for Amaravati because it does not want a world-class capital city to come up in Andhra Pradesh. Then why should we pay taxes to the Centre at all? The Centre is still not forthcoming in helping us build the capital city. Why? Doesn’t Andhra Pradesh need a capital city like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru?" Naidu was quoted as saying.

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