TDP to boycott budget session of Andhra assembly on May 20

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], May 18 (ANI): Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Tuesday announced that it would boycott the single-day budget session of the Andhra Pradesh State Assembly on May 20 in protest against the "unilateral", "undemocratic" and "illogical" decisions of the government led by Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.

Decrying the government's attitude, the TDP in an official press release said, "We have decided to boycott the Chief Minister's misrule but not the Assembly. The Parliament and all other states held their budget sessions in March itself. At that time, there was no severity of the Coronavirus cases. We asked Jagan Reddy to hold the session but he did not do it. Now, the second wave is very severe but the government is going ahead out of a constitutional obligation."

The decision to boycott the budget session was taken at the Telugu Desam Legislature Party (TDLP) meeting presided over by TDP chief and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

TDP AP President K Atchannaidu and former Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu announced this at a joint press conference. They, however, said that the TDLP would run a parallel mock assembly simultaneously with the AP Assembly session in order to expose the failures and misdeeds of the Jaganmohan Reddy regime all through.

"This CM failed to hold the budget session when Corona cases were just 900 and he was holding it at a time when the positive cases reached 2.16 lakh now," they said.

Atchannaidu said that the Central Government and most other state governments were taking Opposition parties along with them in the fight against the epidemic. But, the AP CM did not care to respect the Opposition and did not hold an all-party meeting even once. The Tamil Nadu regime took the opinions of the Opposition leaders to confront the flood situation. Whereas, the AP CM had only remained adamant and proved his inefficiency repeatedly by failing to save the people's lives.

Atchannaidu deplored that the failure of the government resulted in the death of over 109 COVID patients due to lack of oxygen supply at a critical time.

"The Jagan regime did not take any steps to increase hospital infrastructure during the period between the first and second waves of infections. It was nothing but folly on the part of the Government to propose Rs 15,000 assistance for the last rites of COVID victims. That should be the last priority. Immediate steps should be taken to save the living people," he said.

Ramakrishnudu said that the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) government came out with this one-day session only out of a constitutional obligation but not to consult and hold a meaningful discussion with the Opposition party.

"Obviously, the ruling party would turn the Governor's address in the Assembly into a hymn aimed at singing praise of the Chief Minister and his shallow decisions but to present facts about the State economy," he added.

Condemning the ruling YSRCP's mind frame, Ramakrishnudu said even if the TDP would attend the session, the Chief Minister and his Ministers would not give any chance for them to speak in the House.

"As usual, the YSRCP would bulldoze and suppress the voice of the Opposition just like it was done before. Since the beginning, the Chief Minister has clearly made known his lack of respect for not just the legislature but also for the media, judiciary, and the administrative machinery of the State," said Ramakrishnudu.

Replying to a question at the conference, Ramakrishnudu said, "In the past, the YSRCP boycotted the Assembly as a whole but now the TDP was just boycotting the Chief Minister and his illogical decisions on the budget session. The ruling party never came to the House with the good intentions of holding healthy debates on the people's issues. They had no patience nor respect for taking the Opposition along with them. They had no commitment to the burning issues in front of the public." (ANI)