People watch the Union Budget session at a television shop in Vijayawada on Wednesday. , Photo Credit: KVS Giri
The ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh have termed the Union Budget-2023 as a ‘big disappointment’ from the state’s point of view.
YSRCP MPs PV Midhun Reddy, Margani Bharat and Mopidevi Venkataraman, who were in New Delhi, said the Union Budget was a ‘disappointment for Andhra Pradesh’ as it had nothing to do with the assurances given at the time of bifurcation of the state and was very There was something Other issues, despite several appeals made by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard.
He regretted that the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014 was swept under the carpet. The budget neither mentions the Special Category Status (SCS), which the state has been demanding for long, nor the funds required for the construction of the Polavaram irrigation project.
The MPs further said that the proposed steel plant in Cuddapah district was another thing that was ‘conspicuous by its absence’ in the budget document. YSRCP will raise the injustice meted out to Andhra Pradesh in the current session of Parliament, with MPs saying they were not bothered by the significant allocation made to neighboring Karnataka.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national spokesperson K. Pattabhi Ram appreciated the Union Budget from a national perspective, but said he was disappointed with the state’s perspective. He said that the budget proposals are common man friendly.
“The new slabs and increase in exemption limit from ₹5 lakh to ₹7 lakh have reduced the tax burden on the common man. The efforts of the Central Government to promote green energy and allocate funds are commendable. However, the allocation to Andhra Pradesh is nil,” he said.
Nadendla Manohar, chairman of the Jana Sena Party Political Affairs Committee, welcomed the tax exemption to individuals with an annual income of less than Rs 7 lakh and the change in slabs under the new income tax regime.
Shri Manohar said that the middle class was waiting for income tax relief for a long time. “Some policy announcements will help women, senior citizens, small traders and more importantly farmers. It deserves appreciation,” he said.
Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee state president Gidugu Rudraraju said the central government “showed Andhra Pradesh empty-handed”. “None of the assurances given in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act have been mentioned in the budget. No fund has been allocated for capital in Amaravati and Polavaram project. Center is showing least concern for Andhra Pradesh.
CPI(M) State Secretary V. Srinivasa Rao said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Center has continued the injustice done to Andhra Pradesh. “Promises of Special Category Status (SCS) and bifurcation have been put on the backburner. There is no mention of Visakhapatnam Railway Zone and Cuddapah Steel Plant in the budget.
State Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) K. Ramakrishna said that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman juggled the figures keeping in mind the elections to the state assemblies in 2023 and the Lok Sabha in 2024. Election is going to be held this year. But, Andhra Pradesh has been shown empty handed. The backward districts in Andhra Pradesh have been neglected as no funds have been allocated for their development.