YSRCP slams Naidu for ‘credit theft’

Kakinada: YSR Congress Party leaders and former ministers Kurasala Kannababu, Dadisetty Raja, and former MP Vanga Geetha on Monday accused Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of “blatant credit theft” over the Kakinada SEZ land issue.

Addressing the media at Kannababu’s camp office in Kakinada, they said it was former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy who had promised during the 2019 election campaign to return the SEZ-acquired lands to farmers and fulfilled it through GO No 158 issued on July 6, 2021. The leaders alleged that the present coalition government merely issued a memo to implement the same GO, but falsely claimed it as its own achievement. Kannababu said Naidu “has no legacy of his own and survives by stealing credit,” citing examples of projects like green energy, fishing harbours, ports, and the Bhogapuram International Airport, all initiated under YS Jagan’s government.

Dadisetty Raja criticised Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan’s tours as “publicity stunts,” alleging that the government is handing over valuable public lands to corporate groups at throwaway prices. “Chandrababu promised Rs 99 liquor bottles before elections and now sells land for 99 paise per acre,” he remarked. Former MP Geetha said the government’s SEZ claims were “an insult to farmers’ struggles,” accusing it of pushing the state into “liquor and lawlessness.”