Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, who visited Delhi on Friday, met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and sought financial assistance from the centre for several developmental initiatives being undertaken in Andhra Pradesh. In a representation submitted to her, he sought an additional allocation of Rs 5,000 crore for pending capital projects in the state.
He recalled that so far, the state has received Rs. 2,010 crore under the Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) scheme. The memorandum also requested necessary orders on the proposals submitted by the State Government for the release of Rs. 250 crore under the Single Nodal Agency (SNA Sparsh) incentive scheme guidelines for the financial year 2024-25.
Welcoming the Purvodaya scheme announced by the centre for the integrated development of eastern states, the Chief Minister said Andhra Pradesh would greatly benefit from it. He urged the centre to finalise the modalities for implementing the scheme at the earliest. AP Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav, Union Ministers Rammohan Naidu, Pemmasani Chandrasekhar, and Telugu Desam Party MPs also participated in this meeting.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu met NDA alliance Vice Presidential candidate CP Radhakrishnan in Delhi. He said that the NDA partner parties have chosen CP Radhakrishnan as the NDA Vice Presidential candidate. He recalled that he has been acquainted with Radhakrishnan since time immemorial. He said that he met him politely and expressed his support.
CM Chandrababu said that Radhakrishnan is a respected person in the country, a good candidate for the highest position and will bring respect to the country. He commented that CP Radhakrishnan will enhance the prestige of the Vice Presidential chair. He commented that he is very happy to support such a person.
Chandrababu emphasized that politics is not important to him and that the Telugu Desam Party has been in alliance with the NDA alliance since before the elections. CM Chandrababu questioned why the India block fielded a candidate again knowing that it would lose after fielding an NDA candidate once.