Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy today said reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) were not scriptures and they could not be taken seriously.
Intervening in a short-duration discussion on the power crisis in the AP state legislative assembly today, the chief minister remarked that CAG observations are not “Bhagvad Gita, Quran or Bible”, while opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) alleged that the chief minister was seeking to undermine a constitutional body.
The AP CM refuted the TDP’s allegation and maintained that he had not tried to undermine the CAG.
“The CAG will do its constitutional duty. As long as the Public Accounts Committee and the Committee on Public Enterprises don’t analyse CAG observations, we can’t take them seriously,” the AP CM said.
He was reacting to senior TDP MLA Payyavula Keshav’s reference to the CAG report which pointed that the government incurred 50 per cent excess cost on power plants as compared to the Government of India’s projects and his demand that the AP CM must order an inquiry into the matter.
Keshav also referred to allegations by Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president and State Transport Minister Botsa Satyanarayana about the import of substandard coal from abroad that caused a huge loss to the exchequer.
The PCC chief had submitted a report to the Congress high command against the chief minister on the issue, Keshav said.
“Neither the PCC chief nor the government denied this. So, we demand an explanation from the chief minister on the issue,” Keshav said.
Reacting to this, the AP CM said that the state-owned Power Generation Corporation of Andhra Pradesh had responded to CAG observations and clarified that the per megawatt cost of setting up its power plant was Rs 4.7 crore compared to Rs 4.9 crore by the NTPC.
“When the TDP was in power, the CAG pointed to a Rs 13,000 crore loss to the government in the installation of reversible turbines at the Srisailam Hydel Power plant. The Committee on Public Enterprises, however, dropped the observations after an explanation was given by the government. I was a member of the committee at that time,” the AP CM said.
AP Transport Minister Botsa, who entered the House late, however denied having made any reference to the coal import.
“There is no truth in what has been reported in a section of the media. I made no complaint to the Congress high command against the chief minister on the issue,” Botsa said.
Proceedings in the House saw the Congress government being cornered by the TDP opposition about the “grave and unprecedented” power crisis gripping the state because of “corrupt, inept and myopic policies” of the Congress since 2004.
“The chief minister has a lot of love for ‘power’. He knows where power is and how to retain it. His power centre is in Delhi,” Keshav said, lacing his attack on the AP CM with puns.
He alleged that the AP CM, who held the power portfolio as well, was busy reviewing how many MLAs remained with him and how many left, even as the state was pushed into total darkness.
“The power crisis has taken a toll on industrialists, as more than 11,000 industrial units have shut down and another 20,000 are on the verge of closure. One industrialist committed suicide yesterday as he could no longer run his unit due to lack of power,” the TDP legislator pointed out.
Over 4,000 farmers too died of “power shock”, while 20 lakh industrial workers were on roads now, he said.
“The late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy is responsible for all ills plaguing AP’s power sector. He worked for the benefit of private power producers at the cost of the state,” Keshav lashed out.
The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), the Lok Satta Party and Left parties too came down heavily on the government for the power crisis and demanded that the government withdraw the steeply enhanced power tariff.
——PTI