*Naidu steals credit for TIDCO houses without building even one new house*

Tadepalli, March 30: Bapatla District YSRCP President and former Minister Merugu Nagarjuna strongly condemned the coalition government for indulging in blatant credit theft on TIDCO houses by merely painting the houses constructed and distributed to the poor during YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s regime and claiming them as its own achievement. Addressing the media at the party central office, Nagarjuna said it is extremely shameful that the Chandrababu Naidu government, without constructing even a single new house, is trying to take credit for the massive housing programme implemented by the previous YSRCP government.

He pointed out that beneficiaries themselves are coming onto the roads declaring that it was YS Jagan Mohan Reddy who gave them the houses and pattas, exposing the coalition’s false propaganda. “Is this democratic governance or has Chandrababu Naidu become the brand ambassador of credit chori?” he asked. The coalition government is claiming to have constructed 5.5 lakh houses and performed house-warming for 2.5 lakh houses in 21 months, yet it has no record of building even one house for a poor family from 2024 till date, he charged.

Nagarjuna recalled that under YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the government procured 71,811 acres worth Rs. 31,832 crore and purchased 25,374 acres for Rs. 11,343 crore to provide pucca houses to all eligible families, creating entire “Jagananna Colonies” with full infrastructure. The previous government spent Rs. 32,900 crore on jungle clearance, drainage, electricity and drinking water alone, while the market value of the distributed house sites today stands at nearly Rs. 75,000 crore, effectively giving every poor family a site worth around Rs. 20 lakh. Each beneficiary received Rs. 2.70 lakh assistance, including Rs. 1.80 lakh direct bank deposit, bank loans, free sand and Rs. 40,000 worth of cement and materials.

Specifically on TIDCO houses, Nagarjuna said that in February 2020 itself, over 1.24 lakh houses were constructed in G+3 model with all facilities and distributed across 35 urban local bodies, including Saluru, Vizianagaram and Chittoor. In stark contrast, the previous TDP regime in 2015-16 made promises but did not deliver houses and pushed people into debt. “The entire history of transparent house construction, land allocation and TIDCO distribution belongs to YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The coalition should stop this cheap drama, start new programmes and fulfil its own promises instead of stealing credit,” he warned, urging coalition leaders to act responsibly and be careful while speaking about the YSRCP leader.