Hyderabad: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) summoned the Principal Advisor and former Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, Ajeya Kallam, and Principal Secretary to AP Finance Minister, S.S. Rawat, to meet PMO officials in Delhi on Friday.
The Centre is also in arrears in funding for the Polavaram project. The state government was to spend the money for Polavaram and the Centre would later release the funds. The AP government is also demanding funds for national institutions and others.
According to sources, discussions were also held about other issues pending with the Centre in relation to the assurances given in the AP Reorganisation Act.
YSRC MP P.V. Vijayasai Reddy was also in the meeting with PMO officials.
However, there are other contentious issues that could have been aired in the meeting. There is, for instance, a controversy over the YSRC government’s decision to call for reverse tenders for the Polavaram project works, termination of the Polavaram contractor, and cancellation of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).
BJP leaders in the state oppose these decisions of the state government, but YSRC MP Vijayasai Reddy has said that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy takes every decision after discussing it with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.
The BJP leaders don’t believe that and have alleged that the YSRC is using it to cover up their mistakes, and that the Prime Minister and home minister are unnecessarily being dragged into the controversy.
The Polavaram Project Authority constituted by the Central government has also opposed the YSRC government’s decision on reverse tenders. The Union power ministry is opposed to reviewing old PPAs and their cancellation.
So, according to one version, it was to discuss all these issues that the PMO has summoned the AP officials.
The AP government has denied this and said that the PMO wanted to discuss pending arrears from the Centre to the state and pending issues relating to the AP Reorganisation Act.
