Double-engine government has become a double burden on A.P., says CPI(M)

CPI(M) State secretary V. Srinivasa Rao launched a scathing attack on the NDA government’s first year in office, calling it a ‘year of upside-down governance’ that has burdened common people while benefiting corporates. 

Addressing the media on Tuesday, Mr. Srinivasa Rao said that the double-engine government had failed to deliver on the promises and was instead running a ‘double-burden government’. 

Key welfare schemes were neglected during the last one year.  The govenrment has failed in ensuring the minimum wages and remunerative prices for farmers, and imposed a heavy burden on the people in the form of electricity bills, taxes, and administrative confusion. “Despite claiming ₹9.4 lakh crore in investments through MoUs, there is no clarity on the industries or jobs generated,” he alleged.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao criticised Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for ‘promoting outdated economic models’ like GDP, ignoring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) laid out by the United Nations.

Andhra Pradesh ranks 10th among the States on SDG performance. Real development is not GDP alone, but sustainable and inclusive progress. Corporations are being favoured at the cost of workers and the unorganised sector, pointing to stagnant wages for 50 lakh workers and plummeting agricultural prices despite rising market rates. “Even as ITC shares soar, tobacco farmers are denied fair prices,” he said.

Referring to social welfare, the CPI(M) leader alleged irregularities in the ‘Thalliki Vandanam’ scheme and questioned the delay in delivering schemes such as Annadata Sukhibhava, unemployment allowance, and Stree Shakti funds.

Referring to the issue of smart meters, he said that common people were being made to pay exorbitant bill amounts and urged the government to clarify whether it would continue legal cases filed by its own Ministers when they were in the opposition.

Criticising the CM’s governance style, he pointed to contradictions between statements made at TDP’s Mahanadu and the so-called good governance meetings.