CM Naidu 'failed' to secure Andhra's due share in union budget YSRCP

Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh), Feb 1 (PTI) Senior YSRCP leader B Rajendranath Reddy on Saturday alleged that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu "failed" to secure the state's due share of allocations in the 2025-26 union budget.
    The YSRCP leader slammed Naidu for "failing" to mount pressure on the Centre to secure more sops while noting that the advantage went to Bihar.
    "Chandrababu Naidu's 'X' post on the budget is unmindful of the variation vis-à-vis Bihar, which has fewer seats. Though the union budget outlay has crossed Rs 50 lakh crore for the first time, Chandrababu should explain why Bihar, with 12 MPs, received more sops while the TDP, with 16 MPs, lagged," said Rajendranath Reddy, addressing a press conference in Kurnool, the eponymous district.
    Questioning what Andhra Pradesh received in the union budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, he lambasted Naidu for "not even expressing disappointment over this matter".
    Counting the number of budget allocations Bihar received, such as the Makhana Board, National Institute of Food Technology, greenfield airports, and several others, the YSRCP leader noted that no allocation was made for the further development of any of the four ports in Andhra Pradesh.
    "With your support, the central government has been formed, but what did Andhra Pradesh get (in the budget)? You are neither telling us what we received nor expressing sadness over not receiving anything," the former Minister said.
    The TDP-led government should exert pressure to secure more projects and aid, as the support of MPs from the state matters more during the current term of government at the Centre than it did during the 2019-2024 period when the BJP had its strength.
    Further, he asserted that the union budget mirrored some of the initiatives implemented by former CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy during the previous YSRCP regime, such as digitising education by distributing tablets and placing importance on building medical colleges.
    "Jagan Mohan Reddy had planned to establish 17 medical colleges in phases, of which five were completed. Now, the centre is focusing on medical education, and we stand to lose medical seats as the coalition government has not taken forward the initiative," he said.
    According to Rajendranath Reddy, the weaker sections of the state are set to lose out on medical seats, as the current government did not carry forward the initiative to establish medical colleges started by the previous government.
    He highlighted that the initiatives opposed by the TDP during the YSRCP regime have now been reflected in the union budget, such as prioritising education, agriculture, and the medical sectors.
    Additionally, he welcomed the zero income tax up to Rs 12 lakh per annum.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)