Even after disastrous defeat in the recent elections, still former chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s clout in the administration continues. Several senior officials are leaving no stone to express their loyalty to the YCP chief.
Even after change of the government senior officials in the finance department nakedly exhibited their proximity with the previous regime, by clearing all the pending bills of contractors in Jaganmohan Reddy’s Pulivendula constituency and other parts of Rayalaseema. These bills related to works completed during Jagan’s regime.
However, harassment of contractors who completed works during previous Chandrababu Naidu’s regime continued without payment of their bills. Knowing this development, Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav himself was shocked.
During five years of his regime, Jaganmohan Reddy harassed contractors without paying bills of Chandrababu’s regime. But now, in an emergency exercise officials cleared bills to all the contractors who had done work in Jagan’s own constituency, along with other areas in Kadapa, Rajampet and Rayalaseema.
Bills to the extent of Rs.100 crores were paid on the 23rd of this month. But, strangely even after the TDP came into power, contractors who had done work in the previous TDP government are still waiting for the bills. TDP cadre is worried over `generous’ sympathetic attitude of Chandrababu’s governance.
The victims who have not received justice despite going around the finance department and the courts for bills during the YCP regime are now angry at the government’s behavior. To please Pulivendula MLA Jagan, the officials of the finance department released bills to the contractors as a top priority.
But bills worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore related to the previous TDP regime are still continuing in cold storage. Even ministers and new MLAs failed to persuade the finance officials for payment of these old bills. The finance officials seem to be more concerned to see `smiles’ in the face of Jagan by dispatching all pending bills of his government.
Finance Minister Payyavula Keshv, who was shocked with this development, ordered for a probe of those who ordered for release of these bills. He is intending to submit a report to the Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on the attitude of some officials in his department.