The YSR Congress president and former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has sharpened his attack on the Telugu Desam Party led government for the alleged irregularities in the implementation of works on the Amaravati capital city project.
He accused the Chandrababu Naidu government of turning Amaravati project into an "ATM for corruption".
Addressing the media at his party headquarters in Tadepalli, Guntur, Jagan alleged that loans and commitments linked to Amaravati had crossed Rs 47,387 crore, with another Rs 9,200 crore flowing directly from the state treasury.
Voicing concern over rising costs, he said the civil construction estimates had moved from below Rs 5,000 per square foot during his tenure (from 2019 to 2024) to Rs 20,427 per square foot under the present government.
He alleged that the government had spent Rs 401 crore on building designs alone, and that the five proposed buildings as part of the core capital project carried a projected cost of Rs 10,665 crore.
The former CM compared this to the Telangana Secretariat, built during the tenure of former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, at approximately Rs 615 crore, questioning why Andhra Pradesh would spend a larger amount while the state is under financial pressure.
He pointed out that the temporary Assembly, High Court and Secretariat buildings constructed earlier for Rs 1,200 crore were already available. But the government moved ahead with fresh constructions.
He also alleged that the land pooling process within Amaravati had benefited people with connections to the ruling party, with returnable plots along key roads going to Naidu's associates. The farmer, he alleged, received less valuable land in low-lying areas.
Jagan argued that Amaravati lacked the infrastructure base to justify its costs, saying roads, drainage and basic services alone would require close to Rs 2 lakh crore in future spending.
Jagan defended his party's proposed MAVIGAN corridor - covering Machilipatnam, Vijayawada and Gannavaram - as a practical alternative capital city rooted in existing infrastructure.
He said the region - covering the Machilipatnam Port and Vijayawada International Airport - already supported a population of 35 to 40 lakh, and it connects through three railway stations and four national highways, and hosts nine government and private medical colleges alongside multiple universities.
Jagan claimed the proposal had attracted support from people across the region, and accused the Naidu government of working to suppress discussion around MAVIGAN with the help of pliable media.