Naidu to meet FM Sitharaman to seek more funds for Andhra Pradesh

New Delhi, July 17 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will be meeting Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday to press his case for a bigger allocation of funds for the state in the Union Budget which will be presented in Parliament on July 23.Naidu, who is on a two-day visit to the national capital, met Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday and discussed the issue of a larger share of funds for Andhra Pradesh on the ground that the state was in dire financial straits.In a post on X, Naidu said: “I met with the Hon’ble Union Home Minister, Shri @AmitShah Ji, to apprise him of the devastating condition of finances that Andhra Pradesh had slipped into over the past five years. I also discussed the findings of the four White Papers released, outlining the staggering debt accumulated between FY 2019-24 that spiralled our State’s finances out of control. Economic incompetence, gross mismanagement, and rampant corruption by the previous government have caused irreparable damage to our State.”During the meeting at Amit Shah’s residence, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president emphasised that Andhra Pradesh continues to face the aftermath of the “unjust bifurcation” in 2014 and the previous administration’s “miserable governance,” according to sources.Naidu is also likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as per the sources.This is Naidu’s second trip to Delhi in nearly a fortnight. On July 4, he presented a seven-point development agenda to the Prime Minister, aimed at addressing the state’s post-bifurcation challenges.Naidu’s advocacy for increased funding comes on the heels of a similar move by JD(U) national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha, who met the Finance Minister on Monday seeking a higher allocation of funds for Bihar in the forthcoming Union Budget.Both TDP and JD(U) are key partners of the BJP-led NDA and are keen to leverage their alliance for a bigger financial package for their states in the Union Budget 2024-25.–IANSsps/uk