Botsa Satyanarayana slams Pawan Kalyan for hollow talk on Jagananna houses

AMARAVATI: Andhra Pradesh Minister for Education Botsa Satyanarayana on Monday rubbished the remarks of Janasena President Pawan Kalyan on the 'Jagananna Housing Scheme' (JHS) claiming that he was reading out lines written by others.

Addressing a press conference here, the Minister said that former Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy's initiative was to build houses for the poor, and it had been carried forward by his son YS Jagan Mohan Reddy after coming to power. "In all, the government is building 30 lakh houses in the state to provide permanent houses to the poor," added the Minister.

"A total of 71,811 acres of land was acquired in the state, of which 25,000 acres of private land was purchased for Rs 11,000 crore. A total of Rs 3,400 crore was spent on improving the infrastructure in the layouts," said Satyanarayana.

The Minister further said that the Janasena chief should only speak constructively and with facts to get answers from the government. "Pawan Kalyan claimed about Rs 15,000 crore scam in Jagananna Colonies but the government has spent the same amount for purchasing the private land and improving infrastructure in the layouts," said the Minister. I do not consider Janasena as a political party, he lamented.

Speaking about the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi recent to Visakhapatnam, the Minister said that it is the responsibility of the state government to show its commitment to the Centre for allocating various development projects for the North Andhra region.

"During the public meeting, the Chief Minister also highlighted the promises made during the bifurcation of the state and the plight of the Northern Andhra region. The Chief Minister had also made it clear that the relationship between the Centre and Prime Minister is beyond politics and parties," the Minister said.