Andhra Pradesh may be in the midst of a major financial crisis, but this has not stopped AP chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu from spending Rs 200 crores for a temporary secretariat near Vijayawada.
After changing the location of the proposed temporary secretariat twice, the AP government has again announced a temporary secretariat in Velagapudi, which is about 15 km from Vijayawada, while opposition parties have questioned the move.
Naidu is to lay the foundation stone for the temporary secretariat at Velagapudi village in Guntur district at around 8.20 am on Wednesday. The state government finalised the plan for a temporary secretariat at a cabinet meeting on Monday. It is expected to be completed by June 15.
The state cabinet discussed the bids filed by L&T and Shapoorji Pallonji and Co. for construction of the interim capital and the Cabinet decided to pay Rs. 3,350 per sq. ft. to the successful bidders.
Political analyst Telakapali Ravi told The News Minute, “The idea of so called temporary secretariat for AP is confusing, financially burdening, politically ill-conceived and administratively unwarranted. Earlier also they announced some capital and now they have announced a temporary secretariat in Velagapudi, all these things lead nowhere and people are in no way happy with the selection of the place as well as the amount they have planned to spend on the temporary secretariat. Everything appears to be confusing and Chandrababu is becoming a confused person.”
''Spending 200 crores on a place when they are not sure whether they will continue there or not, is a complete waste of money. Instead of this temporary setup, the AP government should have planned a permanent one in the capital'', he added.
Opposition parties are not so happy with this decision as this is not the first time when the AP government changed locations for a temporary secretariat and they are also upset with the way the AP government spent lavishly on the inauguration of the new state capital Amravati.
APCC President Raghuveera Reddy told TNM, "Instead of wasting these 200 crores on a temporary secretariat, it was better to go for a permanent one with the same expenditure. Why don't they take a plot with the money allotted by the Central government?
“He also demanded four lakh crores for the new capital. Chandrababu Naidu is the costliest chief minister and we don't know why he is laying the foundation stone for the third time. Once he did bhoomi pooja and then he spent lavishly on inaugurating the new capital and again now for the temporary secretariat.”
Former MP and YSRCP Leader Botsa Satyanarayana told TNM, “We demand a proper account of Rs 200 crores AP government is planning to spend on the temporary secretariat. I feel the money is being misused by the father and son Narra Lokesh, and they are only interested in collecting the money. This is the reason instead of planning a permanent secretariat at Amravati they have planned for a temporary one. We still have ten years to build a permanent one I don't understand why they are in a hurry to build a temporary secretariat.”