-J-tax at State level, B-tax in Prakasam dt, says Swamy
-Balineni brought darkness and power cuts
AMARAVATI: TDP Kondepi MLA Dola Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy on Friday accused Energy Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy of committing Rs. 1,734 Cr of corruption scams in the past three years.
Veeranjaneya Swamy held Balineni responsible for the power cuts and increased current charges that dealt a severe blow to the people of Andhra Pradesh already.
Addressing a press conference here, the TDP MLA said the Energy Minister had misused his relationship with the Chief Minister and resorted to unchecked frauds. Balineni and his followers looted public money in power purchase agreements, sand, mining, granite, land and gravel mafia.
Swamy blamed Balineni Srinivasa Reddy for the arbitrary cancellation of the PPAs signed with the solar companies during the Chandrababu regime. Only for squeezing commissions from the power companies, the YCP regime adopted a vendetta policy along political lines. Consequently, all sections of people were now forced to live in darkness in the State.
Listing out frauds of the Minister, the TDP MLA said Balineni had collected illegal commissions of Rs. 495 Cr from power companies and for promotions and transfers of employees. He collected Rs. 905 Cr from granite factories, dumping yards owners and lorry contractors. Balineni and his men have squeezed Rs. 100 Cr through the sand mafia and Rs. 40 Cr through the gravel mafia.
Swamy slammed the Minister for collecting huge commissions of Rs. 187 Cr from the land mafia, which perpetrated many illegalities in Ongole town. Balineni used his followers and benamis to commit all these frauds. His excesses began with the letterhead scam. The hawala money scam was still fresh in public memory.
The TDP MLA said while Chandrababu Naidu got PPAs for Rs. 6 per unit in peak hours, the Jagan regime has created such a crisis in which it had to buy peak hour power at Rs. 22 per unit. This was as per the ERC statements only. While Jagan Reddy collected J-tax at the State level, his Minister Balineni collected B-tax in Prakasam district.
