Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is usually averse to interacting with media. When he talks, he does that to his own media, Sakshi or the National Media. This time, he talked with Hindustan Times which does not even have its Print Version in both the Telugu States.
Central Government had recently announced that it can not pay GST compensation to the states due to ‘An Act of God’ and asked the States to borrow from the RBI if necessary. Several State Governments including the neighboring Telangana objected to it.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao dashed a letter to the Prime Minister to the effect. The State Government went on to say it is ready for a legal battle with the Central Government if necessary on this. Even the NDA ruled states took it with a pinch of salt and could not come before the media for obvious reasons.
But CM Jagan defended it in that interview. “It’s just a delay, not a drastic cut. We should understand that since it is the COVID effect and the country’s economy has been an impact. The only way left is borrowing. That is what the Center has suggested. At the same time, we can not burden the people with more taxes. So, we are working on possible additional revenue-generating options,” he said.
That indicates that the Chief Minister is in no mood of messing with the Central Government like how did ever since he took the oath. The interview with a Newspaper with No Print edition may be to send a message to the Delhi and at the same time to keep it inaccessible to the people back home.
