Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu-led Andhra Pradesh government spent Rs 10 crore on his one-day protest ‘Dharma Porata Deeksha’ which was held in Delhi on Monday, February 11. This amount is reportedly in addition to the Rs 1.12 crore which was already spent from the state exchequer to transport protestors in trains for the one-day event in Delhi.

Naidu holds a protest in New Delhi

The Chief Minister led the day-long protest at the Andhra Bhawan in New Delhi where he demanded a special category status for Andhra. However, two trains from South Central Railways, one from Ananthapuramu and another from Srikakulam reached New Delhi on February 10. Not only this, but money from the state’s kitty was also spent on accommodation and food provisions for the general public as well as the VIPs and around 1,100 rooms were booked for the same, reported News 18. With this, the total bill of the Andhra Pradesh government was pushed to a whopping Rs 11.12 crores.

Source: The Government of Andhra Pradesh

The Government Order (GO) was signed by Ravi Chandra Muddada, secretary to the government (expenditure) and was also uploaded on their government’s website.

However, according to a clarification stated by the government, only Rs 2 crore was spent on the protest and the rest of the amount was for other state functions, reported The News Minute. It said, “The Budget Release Order (BRO) issued refers to provision of Rs 8 crore for Other State Functions and only Rs 2 crore for Deeksha.”

Nonetheless, Monday’s protest was monumental in the sense that it saw the confluence of some prominent opposition leaders who lent their support to the Naidu and his cause. opposition leaders, including Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had paid a visit to the protesting leader and attacked Modi of undermining India’s democracy and federal nature. Reportedly, Gandhi even accused Modi of fulfilling his promises and said that he lies everywhere he goes.

Meanwhile, at a public gathering in Andhra Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly questioned the source of money which was being spent for the protest. To this, India Today reported the TDP as stating that the AP government has been arranging such protests across the state since 2017 and that the event in Delhi was not a “political function.”

BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao took a jibe at Naidu and said that he has been organising fake protests in Delhi and misusing public money for the same.

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